Naruto: ATO
by LalaMoped
Summary: The Shinobi War is won, and Akatsuki is defeated. Twenty years later, a new threat rises, and it's up to the next generation of the Konoha Twelve to stop this evil.
1. Home

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto/Naruto: Shippuden, or affiliated characters and locations therein. This story does, however, feature many of my original characters and locations as well. I disclaim ownership of that which belongs to the original content, as well as the world in which this story is set.

* * *

**Chapter One: Home**

**Dragon Temple, Ryuujin Mountains, Fire Country  
**Hyuuga Tamaki spun to block an imaginary attack from behind, turning to the side to thrust his blade into a wooden practice dummy, then rolling back and imbedding the sharp tip of a kunai into a target on the other side of the courtyard. Panting, he stood and entered the temple, where one of the young monks was waiting with a canteen of water and fresh robes.

Tamaki accepted what was offered and drank from the canteen before moving once more to bathe and change out of his training clothes. After he was presentable, he went to find the monk, Jinobu. Jinobu had been his closest friend in the temple since Tamaki's arrival two years before. As he had expected, he found Jinobu in the meditation room and took a seat beside him, enjoying the quiet.

Jinobu opened his eyes a moment later, and the two stood to leave the silent room. Once outside, Jinobu pulled a scroll from inside his sleeve. "This was delivered for you this morning," he said, passing it to the Hyuuga.

Tamaki broke the seal and unrolled it, reading quickly. "I'm being summoned back to Konoha," he summed up, glancing at the monk. "I suppose I should get ready to go."

Jinobu nodded, "You can leave at sunrise tomorrow. That way, you should be able to reach Konohagakure before evening."

Tamaki wondered what it would be like when he got home. How much had changed in the last two years? Were his loved ones in good health? Just the thought of his family and the mess he had left behind made his curse mark ache; he rubbed it through his cloth headband absently.

That night, after finally slipping into a restless sleep, Tamaki dreamed that he was riding in a carriage. He wasn't certain where he was going, but he had the sense that it was important. Outside, the forest was dense and dark, but in the pale moonlight, a single wolf ran alongside the coach.

* * *

**Sunagakure no Sato (The Village Hidden in the Sand), Wind Country  
**"What do you want to do?"

Nara Shikashi shrugged awkwardly against the ground. "You're the one who suggested playing hooky," he reminded his cousin. "I don't know why we didn't just stay at our post if we were just going to be bored here, too." Shikashi rubbed his nose irritably, cursing the freckles that he knew the sun was drawing out. The sky was clear, and the desert sun beat down on all it touched.

Yuki sighed. "How long before we get caught?" he asked.

"How should I know?"

"You're the genius, Mister Prodigy," the older scoffed.

Shikashi considered it. "Assuming nothing unexpected happens, no one will know we're not there until the next patrol shows up at four o'clock," he decided, rolling onto his stomach.

Yuki paused in the middle of making a snarky comment, looking skyward. "What's that?"

"Looks like a messenger hawk." Shikashi sighed, "That's pretty unexpected."

"Huh?"

* * *

Temari was livid. "Of all the stupid, pigheaded, idiotic...!"

"Nothing happened, Aunt Temari," Yuki tried to defend.

Temari fixed him with a glare. "And, _you_, Shikashi! I'd expect that kind of irresponsibility from Yuki, but not you!"

Kankurou put a hand on her shoulder. "I think we can all agree that it was a stupid thing to do, but we're in the middle of what could be an emergency," he tried to reason with her.

Gaara nodded, elbows propped on his desk with little regard for the papers below them. "Kankurou is right," he said. "The hokage wants Shikashi back as soon as he can be. That's all that matters right now."

Shikashi raised an eyebrow. "He's summoned us back?"

"Not us," Temari corrected her son. "You."

"I see. I'll be ready to go in an hour, then." Shikashi bowed to the kazekage, then turned and left the office.

"If you think you're getting out of being punished for running off on your duties that easily, you've got another thing coming, Shikashi!" Temari yelled after him.

* * *

**Konoha Hospital, Konohagakure no Sato (The Village Hidden in the Leaves), Fire Country  
**"Sakura-san! We've got an emergency patient in room E-4!"

Sakura jumped up from her desk and threw on her medic coat as she followed the younger medic out of her office. "Get Ai and Sara," she ordered as she passed him.

Haruno Ai hurried through the halls to the emergency operating rooms. A large platoon had been slaughtered less than a hundred kilometers outside the village, and so far there were no answers as to who or what had caused so much carnage. Spotting her mother's pink hair, Ai maneuvered through the bustling room to stand beside her.

"I need O-negative blood over here stat!" the pinkette was issuing orders, as her position as head medic dictated she should. "Ai," she turned briefly to her daughter, "I'm going to leave this one to you."

"But, Mom…!"

"You can do this. I'm needed elsewhere."

Ai could only nod mutely as Sakura left room E-4, presumably to do what she did best: save lives. In less than a second, Ai had shaken off her insecurity and was ready to make her mother proud. Hands glowing green with healing chakra, Ai pressed them to the injured jounin's chest.

He sputtered blood and looked up at her. "It..." he rasped, slipping in and out of consciousness. "It was..."

Ai leaned closer. "What? Who did this to you?"

"Monster," he whispered.

Ai was confused by this, but continued to listen to what the shinobi had to say.

"Black... sun..." And with that, he was gone.

Ai slid his eyes shut and stepped back. She turned what he had told her over in her mind as she went on to the next patient. No matter what the dedicated medics of the Konoha Hospital did, however, the results were the same, and every one of the shinobi who hadn't died on the spot, passed away on the operating tables. All but one.

* * *

"How is Patient Fifteen doing?" Sakura asked, taking said patient's chart from a junior medic. Even with his chart, the patient's name was unknown; the main reason Sakura wasn't fond of operating on members of ANBU. It all seemed so impersonal, referring to a patient by a number.

"Still in a coma, Ma'am."

She cursed under her breath. "We need to find out what happened to that platoon," she said. "Has anyone from Hokage's office come to get a statement?"

"Ah, a-actually, Ma'am..." he faltered.

Sakura threw open her office door, and paused, staring at the blond who had made himself comfortable in her chair. "Naruto? What the hell are you doing here?"

Naruto set down the family picture that Sakura kept on her desk and grinned at her. "Long time, no see, Sakura-chan," he said. "What? Just because I'm the hokage, doesn't mean I don't have time to investigate attacks on Konoha ninja personally."

"We don't have any information yet. We only have one survivor, and he's comatose," Sakura explained. "Any news on the outside?"

"A tracking team has picked up a trail. Not sure what will come of it, but it's worth a shot," he answered.

Just then, Ai ran in. "Black sun!" she shouted, upon entering the office.

"What?" Naruto asked, and the girl blinked at him.

"Uncle Naruto? What the hell are you doing here?"

Sakura grabbed the teenager's shoulder. "Never mind that," she said, slamming her office door to keep anyone from overhearing. "What was that you said about a black sun?"

"One of the jounin said... I mean, before he died, he said something about a monster and a black sun."

"Black sun?" Naruto thought aloud. "Like a solar eclipse?"

"But there hasn't been a solar eclipse in... well, a while." Sakura crossed her arms. "Is one coming up? It could be about something that will happen in the future."

"We'll look into it," Naruto assured her. "Was that all, Ai?"

Ai nodded. "What's going on?"

"You know as much as I do right now," Naruto told the Haruno women. "I have to go."

Sakura watched her old friend as he left the room, then gave Ai a proud look. "You did good, Ai," she said, giving her a one-armed hug. "We have a lot more patients to get through before our work is done, though."

* * *

**Main Gate, Konohagakure no Sato (The Village Hidden in the Leaves), Fire Country  
**The chuunin on gate duty hardly gave him a second look as he approached them. Tamaki presented his Shinobi ID card and signed in. Then he presented his summons to them.

"Hokage-sama wants you to report to his office A.S.A.P.," one told him.

Tamaki nodded in understanding. "Any idea what all of this is about? Even the civilians look to be on edge," Tamaki pointed out.

"A platoon of ANBU was attacked last week. There's only one survivor, by the rumors."

"Well, that _is_ interesting." Tamaki tilted his head to them. "Thank you. I'll be off, then," he said, gathering his bag off the ground and taking off through the village to the Hokage Tower. It was a little surprising that the Hokage would call him back to the village, of all people. _Naruto-sama is probably regrouping all free shinobi_, Tamaki decided.

Within the next ten minutes, Tamaki was at the Hokage's office door. Taking a deep breath, he tapped at the red-painted wood.

"Come in," called the unmistakable voice of the Sixth. Upon seeing the young Hyuuga, Naruto grinned broadly. "Tamaki-kun! Look at you, all grown up."

Tamaki bowed, "Naruto-sama. It's been a long time."

"Did you learn any new techniques while you were away?" asked Naruto, as eager as an old lady was for gossip about her neighbors. "I swear, you picked up the rasengan so fast...!"

"Naruto," called Shikamaru, getting his boss's attention, "Tamaki isn't here to catch up."

Clearing his throat, now all business, Naruto focused once more on his one-time apprentice. "Five days ago, there was an attack..."

"On a platoon of ANBU," Tamaki added quickly. "One survivor, right?"

"How did _you_ know?"

"It's all anyone is talking about," Tamaki answered. "The details are fuzzy, though. Something to do with a lion and clover?"

"No, no, no. It's a monster and a black sun," Naruto corrected. "Mean anything to you?"

Tamaki shook his head. "Anything from intelligence?" he asked.

"Well, we did get a message from one of our field agents. After it was decoded, there was only one word on it: _'Kurohi'_."

"Black sun. Makes sense, I guess. Now if only we knew who or what Kurohi is."

Shikamaru nodded, "Which is why we're reassembling Team Anju. As we speak, Shikashi is on his way home, and then you'll have three days to catch up on each other's new abilities. After that, you four will be going to gather as much information as you can."

"I'm not sure..." Tamaki paused. _How to explain the situation...?_

Naruto frowned. "Whatever happened between you three needs to be resolved. If not, I'll be taking you all off duty."

Tamaki sighed inwardly. Outwardly, he smiled coolly. "Of course, Naruto-sama," he said, and dismissed himself.

* * *

The Hyuuga compound was just as he remembered it: blank, unwelcoming walls, and even blanker, more unwelcoming stares. He ignored the way members of the main family looked at him as he walked on to the branch housing, where his home was located. He heard them mutter to each other behind him. The names they called him were nothing new.

Tenten was sharpening her shuriken when he found her in the back yard. She jumped when he tapped her shoulder, but was quick to recover and envelop him in a tight hug.

"I've missed you so much," she told him, squeezing him as if she intended to make up for his two year absence.

"I missed you, too, Mother." He hugged her back, and for the slightest moment, he was eight and crying into her shoulder over the injustices of the world. His caged bird seal stung just thinking about that day.

"You've gotten so big," she went on, pulling away and looking him over. "You look just like your father."

His smile dropped and he stepped away from her. His father, the last person he wanted to think about.

"I know how you feel, but…"

Tamaki forced a smile, now extremely convincing after so many years of practice. Not even his mother could tell how he really felt when he didn't want her to. "It's fine. Father is a sensible man, and I've grown quite mature in these past years. I'm sure we can get along," he assured her, turning back toward the house. "I'm going to wash up and then take a nap. I tried to avoid making too many stops on the way home."

"Oh. Okay, Tamaki," she returned to her seat on the ground and went back to her sharpening. "I'll wake you when dinner is ready."

"Thank you, Mother." He left her and went into his room. He stripped down and stepped into the shower in the bathroom attached to his bedroom, feeling the heat wash over his tense muscles. It was nice. The temple only had the cold rainwater that the catchment tanks held, and the plumbing was gravity-powered to the outdoor shower. Finishing up, he toweled off and slipped on some loose pants, falling tiredly onto his bare mattress and ignoring the dust that sprung up in response.

He dreamed of the wolf.

* * *

Shikashi slipped through the gate just after midnight. He was supposed to report directly to the Hokage, but he felt that there was one thing he had to do before that. He moved swiftly through the empty streets, landing in a tree and squatting on a familiar branch.

The Haruno's house was small, especially when one considered how many people were crammed into the three bedrooms. Even if Shouichi, their oldest, had moved out since he turned eighteen a few months before, they were still a household of six, and none of them much liked having people in their 'space'.

One of the upstairs windows, the one that Ai shared with her two younger sisters, was still dimly lit, despite the late hour. Shikashi remembered back when they were in the academy, when Ai would get into fights with the other students for whatever reason. Her goals seemed to change from day to day back then. The only constant in her fight was her hatred of feeling inferior.

_Shikashi pushed a stray hair out of his face irritably, regretting cutting it. But that wasn't what he was really angry about. He hated Fridays; they were Test Day, when all of the students were quizzed on what they had learned in the past week. He hated it because he always finished twenty minutes before everyone else, and he wasn't allowed to go home early. He exaggerated a bored yawn._

_The raven-haired girl beside him, with the pigtails that he always had the strangest compulsion to tug on, snapped an annoyed glance his way. Seeing this, he did it again, this time stretching his arms out so he invaded her personal space._

_She grit her teeth and went on, attempting to finish the test in the allotted time. "Shut up," she hissed, elbowing him between the ribs._

"_Go faster," he muttered back. "It's because everyone is so slow that these quizzes take so long."_

_She squeezed her pencil so hard, it broke in two. Throwing the ends across the room, she jumped up onto the bench and tackled him, landing a right hook to his face before their teacher managed to pull her away. "Stop talking like you're better than me!" she shrieked, her face red enough to match her dress._

_He furrowed his eyebrows and said, completely matter-of-factly, "I _am_ better than you. And I always will be."_

The misconception of this event had been that he was being cocky, Shikashi understood. The truth of the matter was, and continued to be, that he knew he was the best in his age group. Certainly the smartest.

He watched quietly until the light went out a few hours later. The sun would be rising soon. He'd wait until then to report to the Hokage.

* * *

**Training Ground Nineteen, ****Konohagakure no Sato (The Village Hidden in the Leaves), Fire Country  
**Aburame Anju looked at her students, now all chuunin and no longer in need of her protection. Her guidance, however, still seemed completely required, looking at the way the three refused to make eye contact. She cleared her throat, calling their attentions to her.

She frowned, "This is not the way proper shinobi should act. We underwent several teamwork exercises back when you three were genin, and I refuse to go through them again.

"I will leave you all alone for one hour. I don't care what it takes, just work through this issue of yours. If you have not resolved your problems by the time I return, you will be demoted, or even retired." She didn't give them time to argue as she left in a swirl of insects.

"Demoted, huh?" Shikashi scoffed. "Will she be sending you back to the academy, then?" he asked Ai.

"A know-it-all like you should already know that I'm a chuunin," she snarled. "With no help from either of you, I might add. At least _I_ didn't run away from my problems."

Tamaki bristled, "I didn't run away. I left for training. Shikashi is the one who ran away."

"If we're talking about training, I was training with the _kazekage_."

Ai rolled her eyes at Shikashi, "There you go dropping names again. _Look at me! I'm Shikashi, and I'm related to the kazekage, and my dad is the hokage's assistant, which is the only reason I was promoted to chuunin in the first place!_"

"That's just hypocritical, Ai. You parade your mother's name out all the time," Tamaki pointed out.

"Oh, because it's _so hard_ being a _Hyuuga_!"

Tamaki glared at them both, "If you two cared about anyone but yourselves, you might actually _know_ something about me!"

"I am not selfish!" Ai shouted, "And if you hadn't run away, you'd know that."

Shikashi nodded sagely, "Ai is right. She cares about what the guys she's sleeping with think."

Ai whirled around with a snarl, throwing her fist only millimeters away from Shikashi's face and punching the tree behind him. The force threw splinters of wood in all directions, and the forest rumbled with birds crying out as the entire tree split from its trunk and fell.

Shikashi stared up at her from the ground, astounded. "Where did you learn _that_?" he asked.

Her green eyes burned as she stared heatedly down at him. "Like I said, I am a chuunin now. And I didn't need _either_ of you to get there!" She ran her fingers over her bloody knuckles, her chakra glowing green as she healed herself. Then she pulled a pair of leather glovelettes from her kunai holster and strapped them onto her hands, adjusting the Leaf insignia-inscribed plates on the tops.

"While you two were off, hiding from your problems," she said, clenching her fists, "I was here, getting stronger. And now I'm twice the shinobi either of you ever were!"

Tamaki smirked, pulling a scroll from one of his holders and unrolling it. "You're not the only one who's picked up some new tricks, Ai."

Shikashi jumped straight up from the ground and landed in a crouch, pulling a tessen from one of his own pouches. The wind twisted playfully around him, teasing his hair and jacket. Her opened his metal plated fan and held it out in front of him. "I've mastered a few new arts, myself," he admitted.

Ai pulled her hands toward her body, quickly making the seals for tiger, horse, rabbit, rat, and then dog. Her hands began to glow with chakra as she ran at her teammates at a speed that impressed even Tamaki, the fastest of their team. Shikashi blocked her chakra scalpels with his tessen as Tamaki leapt into the air, biting his thumb and summoning a Chinese broadsword.

The Hyuuga brought his dao down at the interlocked warriors before him. They somersaulted off in different directions, just barely managing to escape Tamaki's blade. Tamaki, in turn, had to twist his body quickly to dodge the chakra scalpel that Ai had launched at his neck.

"Since when can you do that?" he asked, landing nimbly on his toes and running at her.

"Since—_ngh_," she ducked below his horizontal strike. He brought the sword down at her in a vertical slash, and she caught in on the guards on the back of her gloves just above her head. "Since I found the notes taken from one of Orochimaru's old hideouts. Kabuto was sort of an egomaniac when it came to his techniques," she panted. "They were detailed enough for me to figure them out, anyway." She grunted as her arms shook under the force of Tamaki's sword. Calling chakra to her arms, she managed to push him away and swing her leg up, moving her chakra into her heel.

Tamaki stumbled back to avoid the deadly kick and the resulting hole, and in that time, Shikashi attacked Ai from the side. She jumped away, huffing with the effort.

Shikashi knew that she'd need a minute to recover from using her chakra so carelessly in the last few minutes, and he wasted no time biting his thumb and smearing his blood over a seal on his fan. The fan vanished in a puff of smoke, and in its place, he held a giant bladed pinwheel. He swung the staff, calling up a gust of wind, which he used to increase his speed and air-time as he hurdled at Ai. She darted away gracefully, but Shikashi landed on the ground where she had been and threw his weapon at her. She rolled to the side, only to notice that it was following her.

From his vantage point, Tamaki noted with a strange mixture of horror and amazement how Shikashi's fingers danced like he was playing an invisible piano. If Tamaki had been able to activate his byakugan, he'd have been able to see the translucent strings that connected Shikashi's fingers to his weapon.

Grinning, Tamaki put his dao away and pulled out a new scroll, summoning its contents. Now with a handful of specially marked kunai, he set mental targets around the training ground and launched a kunai at each, hitting his marks perfectly. His last was sent at the Nara.

Shikashi jumped out of the way of Tamaki's kunai, losing his concentration, and thus his chakra-string hold, on his weapon. He then took note of the seemingly purposeless kunai that Tamaki had thrown around the area, but he knew better than to believe that Tamaki would waste a kunai for no good reason. On top of that, this moment gave Ai the time she needed to refocus her chakra. Warily, he awaited Tamaki's next move.

Tamaki held his right hand out, palm up and took a deep breath. In the next minute, a tiny, tornado-like ball had formed in his hand, and both opponents recognized this as the rasengan. This was nothing special; Tamaki had used the technique in his second attempt at the chuunin exam and had been promoted for it. What he did next, however, was a bit more impressive.

Before their eyes, Tamaki disappeared without even leaving a cloud of smoke behind. In the next second, he was behind Ai, slamming his rasengan into the dirt below her feet, sucking her into the sinkhole it created. Next he was behind Shikashi with another rasengan, but Shikashi had been expecting this, having caught on to Tamaki's plan around the time he disappeared the first time.

Shikashi quickly formed the rat seal and slid his food back a few inches so he was standing on Tamaki's shadow, stopping the Hyuuga in his tracks. The rasengan in his hand dissolved into the air around them quickly as Shikashi held his teammate in place.

"Working awfully hard at this, considering it's your family's _hiden_ jutsu," Tamaki commented, not able to see Shikashi's face, but noticing him struggle with this basic form of the shadow bind technique.

"Haven't used it in a year," Shikashi muttered. He slid his foot away from Tamaki, and their shadows stayed connected. Convinced that it was holding well enough, Shikashi turned to face Tamaki, and Tamaki was forced to turn away. Shikashi drew a kunai, making Tamaki do the same, and held the point near the back on Tamaki's neck, who in turn held his to the trunk of the tree in front of him.

"I believe I've won," Shikashi grunted, trembling from using the shadow technique that his family was famed for.

"Thank again!" shouted Ai as he punched him across the face, sending him straight to the other side of the clearing. "That's for calling me a whore!"

Tamaki sighed and turned to face her, only to find that both she and Shikashi had vanished. He blinked and looked around, but couldn't find any sign of them.

Shikashi lay sprawled out where he landed, staring up at the sun through the leaves. Judging by the way Tamaki was looking around with that dumb expression on his face, Ai had trapped him in a genjutsu. Genjutsu had always been Tamaki's greatest weakness. _Well played, Ai,_ he thought as he watched the girl approach him. And from the looks of it, she was ready to tear him to pieces.

* * *

**A/N: **This is the first chapter of my next generation Naruto fanfic, _Naruto: ATO_. I've been working on the characters and story for over a year now, and I'm finally putting the first few chapters up to get an idea of how it will be received. Since there's almost a completely new cast of characters (as the main plot of this story takes place about twenty years after the current Naruto storyline), characters will be introduced a few at a time.

In this chapter, we meet Team Anju:  
**Aburame Anju**, 29, is a member of the Aburame clan, and a cousin of Shino.  
**Hyuuga Tamaki**, 16, is a branch member of the Hyuuga clan, and the son of Neji and Tenten.  
**Nara Shikashi**, 15, is the son of Shikamaru and Temari, and as such, he has lived in both Suna and Konoha.  
**Haruno Ai**, 15, is a medic under the tutelage of her mother, Sakura. Her father is Sai.


	2. Team Anju

**Chapter Two: Team Anju**

**Konohagakure no Sato (The Village Hidden in the Leaves), Fire Country, Ten years ago  
**Shikashi looked up at his father. "Why do we have to do this?" he asked. "It's not actual school, so it shouldn't be required."

"It's orientation. Troublesome as it is, every generation has to go through it, and you're no exception." Shikamaru put a hand on his five-year-old son's head, smiling fondly.

"I want to go to school in Suna with Yuki-niisan."

Shikamaru sighed, "This is the arrangement your mother and I had. All the wanting in the world won't change that."

"Okay, but can you promise one thing to me?"

"Depends what it is."

Shikashi scowled, "I just want to play shogi with you."

Shikamaru had to feel a little guilty at this. Because if his students and his other duties to the village, he hadn't been spending as much time with his family as he should have. Even Temari had nonchalantly pointed it out on occasion, but Shikamaru knew she was only pretending not to really care. For her to say something, it was bothering her, and apparently it was bothering Shikashi, too. "Sure. In fact, I'll play as many times as you want today," Shikamaru agreed. "If you behave at orientation," he added.

Shikashi beamed at his father and nodded as they reached the academy. A lot of kids and their parents were already there, some that he even sort of recognized from his father's circle of friends and acquaintances. Not that he was terribly familiar with any of them or their children, seeing as he had only been living in Konoha for a few months.

It wasn't long before Naruto showed up to give a speech to all of the new students, and those students were all herded into lines in front of the loud-mouthed hokage. Of course, Naruto couldn't just give the speech that every other hokage had given every other year. This was his first orientation as hokage, and he was going to have some fun with it.

"Hey, guys!" he shouted, getting muttered variants of greeting in return. "Now, I know that school sucks. I mean, I wasted seven years of my life on it, too."

"Naruto!" Iruka scolded the blond, forgetting for a moment that Naruto was no longer his mischievous student, and now his mischievous hokage.

Naruto laughed at his red-faced ex-sensei. "Sorry, sorry. Anyway, you all need to work hard, because someday, one of you might be the next hokage!"

The children broke out in mumbles at the prospect, every boy and girl turning to the person next to them to declare that he or she _would_ be the next hokage. This caused a few arguments, but none that a call for silence from Naruto couldn't cure.

"Come on, guys. You can't fight with each other," he told them seriously. "You're comrades, and at some point, you'll be put into groups of three, and then you'll be teammates. There's nothing more important than protecting your fellow shinobi and the villagers of Konoha."

A fair number of the original Konoha Twelve were on the sidelines, listening to what Naruto had to say to their children. It was obvious enough to them that Naruto still felt that he had failed Sasuke all those years ago, even if none of the Konoha elders had batted an eyelash at the death of the last Uchiha.

"You have to look out for each other," Naruto told the assembled five-year-olds. "You're a family now." All was quiet for a few long minutes, and then Naruto was smiling again. "That's it, then! Listen to Iruka-sensei babble for a sec, and then you can go play."

Iruka flushed, but stepped up to the podium. "Thank you, _Hokage-sama_. I'm just going to go over the academy guidelines and a few other issues…"

Nobody really listened to this part. It was a miracle the group of children had managed to stand still for so long already. Shikamaru surveyed the bored expressions worn by parents and students alike, and he paused when he came to his own son. Shikashi stood straight, listened intently, and obediently filed the information away for later use. Temari had done a good job raising him to be an efficient shinobi. Shikamaru almost felt guilty again, having only seen Shikashi a few days every month when the boy had lived with his mother in Suna.

At long last, Iruka finished, and kids ran in all directions, squealing happily as they played games with one another. Shikashi slunk to his father's side, choosing not to meet his new classmates.

"Hello, Shikamaru-san," said Sai as he approached the Naras.

"Hey, Sai," Shikamaru answered. "I didn't know you had one this age."

Sai smiled, "It is safe to guess that I have one of _every_ age."

Shikamaru blinked at the artist. Was that a _joke_ he had made? Shikamaru was saved from the conversation when Neji and Tenten approached with Lee and Kiba in tow.

"Long time, no see," Tenten greeted them with a little wave.

"Tenten-san, Neji-san, Lee-san," Sai ducked his head at them politely.

Lee nudged Neji with an elbow, "We were just discussing how great it would be if our sons were on the same team."

"Hn."

Kiba patted Akamaru's head absently. "Just keep your sons away from my daughter," he joked. "Especially you, Hyuuga."

Tenten giggled, "Tamaki is quite the lady-killer."

Neji only turned away from the other adults, looking across the field at his son.

Climbing trees, Rock Tai paused at seeing "Uncle" Neji staring at them. "Tamaki-kun," he asked his friend, "Is your dad mad at you or something?"

Tamaki glanced over at his father and shrugged. "He's just mad because Hitomi-hime activated her byakugan before me. Now the elders want her to be privately taught, instead of sending her to school. Otherwise, she'd be in our class."

Tai pulled himself up to sit beside his best friend on a low branch. "I don't really get this clan stuff," he admitted.

"Neither do I. Hotaka-sama told my dad that he should find me a bride within the compound to keep the blood from being more watered-down," Tamaki said. "What does that mean?"

Tai shrugged. "Sounds bad," he figured.

Back with the adults, Sai turned to see his daughter on top of a bigger boy, punching him. He sighed and excused himself, hurrying off to save the boy from her.

"Ai, please refrain from harming your classmates unless you have orders to do so."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "He could still use some practice at being normal," he pointed out.

Tenten nodded, "But he has come a long way."

Shikamaru grabbed Shikashi's hand and began to leave the schoolyard. "I think it's about time we left. Nice talking to you four," he said, waving over his shoulder.

"Tell Temari-san I said 'hi'," Tenten called after him.

Kiba stretched, "It's getting close to dinner. We should probably get going, too." He turned to face the area where a group of children were playing tag. "Come on, Pup!"

The honey-brown-haired girl with trademark Inuzuka fangs painted on her cheeks instantly abandoned the game and came running to her father. "Okay, Papa!" Shippo called. When she reached him, he lifted her onto Akamaru's back, and the three left.

* * *

"Settle down, everyone!" called Saburou-sensei to his bustling, newly-promoted students. "I know you're all excited to be genin, but you have to be quiet so I can announce your cells." He went down the list, naming teams until he reached team four. "Cell four will be led by Aburame Anju, and will consist of Nara Shikashi, Haruno Ai, and Hyuuga Tamaki," he said, not pausing before moving on. "Cell five will be led by…"

Shikashi and Ai glared at each other. They weren't necessarily enemies, but they certainly weren't friends, either. Tamaki, as could be said about everything, took the news with pleasant indifference. He looked over at Tai, who had been put on a cell with Inuzuka Shippo. It was a little disappointing that they were being split up, but not particularly surprising. After all, the teams were meant to be kept even, and Tamaki and Tai's test scores didn't add up well together.

* * *

"Shikashi is the best-rounded of you," Anju murmured, eyeing her new students behind her dark glasses. The three were dirty and bruised from the spar Anju had put them through upon her first meeting with them, but she wanted to assess their strengths and weaknesses. It was off-putting to see a genin like Shikashi with virtually no weaknesses.

"But he has one major flaw," she added, more to herself than to her students. "He doesn't trust his teammates, and doing things on your own is not how we do things in Konoha. Ai tested nearly as well as Shikashi, but she's too quick-tempered in battle, and it clouds her judgment. Tamaki is the balance between the two of them."

The three exchanged looks, and Ai and Shikashi both scoffed. Tamaki sighed between them.

"I'll do my best, Sensei."

* * *

**Training Ground Nineteen, ****Konohagakure no Sato (The Village Hidden in the Leaves), Fire Country, Present day  
**Tamaki looked around, baffled. Where could his teammates have disappeared to? He looked around for forty-nine seconds before he clicked his tongue in realization. _She knows I can't see through genjutsu,_ he realized. _That must be what this is. But at least it'll be easy enough to get out of._ Tamaki might not have had the eyes if a Hyuuga, but he did have the chakra control of one. It only took him a second to rearrange the flow of his chakra, and then everything melted back into reality.

Ai was closing in fast on Shikashi, so much chakra concentrated into her fist that it appeared to glow blue, and even normal eyes could see the excess chakra streaming off of her like smoke from a fire. Shikashi held his staff at the ready, waiting to block her angry fist.

Tamaki frowned as he watched them. They truly were completely opposite, and would never stop fighting unless he was there to balance them out. Difficult as it was, it meant he couldn't fight with them; he had to be more peaceful and reasonable than that.

"It's true!" Tamaki shouted. "I ran away!"

Shikashi glanced at the Hyuuga and sighed, letting his guard fall. Unable to stop herself before she hit him, Ai quickly cut off the chakra flow to her arm so her punch wouldn't shatter Shikashi's skull. She got him across the face, and he lurched back a few feet before falling on his back.

"Why did you let me hit you?" Ai seethed at his sprawled form. "Take me seriously, damn it!"

Shikashi blinked lethargically at her. "I've always thought I was better than everyone else," he admitted. "The truth is, I probably have gotten things in my life that I didn't earn, simply because of my family."

"I ran away because I felt too much pressure from my father and my clan. I should have explained myself before I left, though. I'm sorry I just abandoned the two of you like that," Tamaki said.

The clearing was quiet save for the wind that shook the leaves. Shikashi and Tamaki shared a look before the two turned their attention to Ai. "It's your turn," they deadpanned together.

She huffed, "I don't have anything to apologize for. I didn't do anything wrong."

Shikashi rolled his eyes while Tamaki laughed. Some things just didn't change.

"I'm glad to see you've worked out your problems," said Anju, hopping from a tree branch and landing gracefully before them. "And I must admit that you three have gotten very impressive."

"You were watching the whole time, weren't you?" Ai accused.

Anju nodded and pulled a scroll from her pocket, moving on. "I have our mission details here."

"If we ran the risk of being demoted, why would Naruto-sama give us a mission?" asked Tamaki.

Shikashi sighed, climbing to his feet and collecting his fallen tessen. "He never intended to demote us, did he?"

"He had faith in you, and so did I." Anju opened the scroll for them, "We'll be leaving tomorrow morning."

* * *

**Mt. Ougonyama****,**** near Ishigakure no Sato (The Village Hidden in the Stone), Stone Country  
**Night had just fallen over the mountain path the figure took to his destination. He appeared short and lumpy but solid, like a moving boulder. The tan cloak draped over what might have been the figure's shoulders dragged across the rocky ground behind him, adding dirt to the mixture of blood and who-knew-what-else that was splattered over the fabric. Settled between said could-be shoulders was the insignia of a black sun.

The figure came to a stone Buddha, its miniature features rounded and childlike as it sat in eternal meditation. The lumpy figure performed six seals and pressed his palms to the cliff face behind the Buddha, where the stone groaned and slid open like an elevator door.

The passage was black as pitch, but the figure had walked the corridor so many times that he didn't need to see where he was going. Finally, the passageway opened up to a poorly lit cavern, where a lone man sat hunched in a chair, his face obscured by shadow.

"Oru," the old man greeted the rock-like thing that had just entered his hideout. "Did you deliver my message?"

Oru nodded and reached into his cloak pulling a bloody and mangled Konoha hitai-ate from within. "Yes, Nobu-sama," Oru answered his master. "And you might even say it was well-received, too."

* * *

**A/N:** Short but important chapter. A few more characters were mentioned in this chapter, but I'll properly introduce them later.

Also, I once had someone ask who Shippo's mother is, so as a general rule, if I don't mention a parent, it's not important to the story. The unmentioned parent will either be revealed later when s/he becomes relevant to the plot, or never mentioned at all.


	3. Kurohi

**Chapter Three: Kurohi**

**Kinenhi Cemetery, Port City, Fire Country  
**Kobayashi Masayoshi stared sadly at the new grave, the one where his mother now rested. The funeral had been small and peaceful, just as his mother would have preferred it, but Masayoshi couldn't bring himself to leave even after the handful of guests had already gone home. Masayoshi looked to the sky; the sun shone happily, and he couldn't help but feel like it was mocking him.

"Sorry about your mother."

Masayoshi glanced at the blond man who wore the tan cloak with the black sun on his back. This was not his first time seeing the man. He sighed, "I suppose you've come to ask again."

The Kurohi-cloaked man nodded, and Masayoshi sighed again, suggesting they speak elsewhere.

They went to a teashop, overlooking the bay, where ships and sailors went about their merry business, unaware that there was a scout from a dangerous organization watching them from a nearby teashop. Not that any of them interested the Kurohi recruiter, anyway.

"The offer still stands. Nobu-sama's even willing to increase the offered salary if you'll join Kurohi."

Masayoshi stared impassively at the horizon. "The timing is interesting."

"What?"

"The day of my mother's funeral, I mean. You come to collect me nearly once a week for a month, and then I don't see you for months while my mother is sick. As soon as she dies, though, here you are." Masayoshi didn't let his face betray anything, "I know he did this to her, your _Nobu-sama_."

The blond chuckled, "Close. It was not Nobu-sama who infected your mother, but it was someone working under him. If Nobu-sama had known your mother had contracted it, he'd have sent a dose of the antidote your way."

"I'm supposed to believe that it was all a misunderstanding?"

"If Nobu-sama had done it on purpose, one would think he'd have used the antidote as a bargaining chip."

Masayoshi had to admit that there was logic in that. The whole thing still seemed suspicious, though.

"If you want your revenge, though, Nobu-sama is willing to make his employee answer for what she did."

Masayoshi stood, "I can be ready to leave in an hour."

* * *

**Hozuki home, Wave Country  
**Haru yawned as he reclined on the porch of the Hozuki household. The door behind him was open, and inside, he could hear his partner, Eana, bustling around. He scratched a fishy ear and yawned again, louder.

"Shut up," he heard her mutter. A few minutes later, she emerged from the house with a bag slung over her shoulder, closing the door behind her.

"Please tell me you're ready. We're already late."

Hozuki Eana rolled her eyes, "Yeah, yeah, I'm ready. Not that I care if we're late or not. I don't answer to Nobu."

"Oh, you with this 'half-member' bullshit," he growled, standing to follow her out of the city and toward the Great Naruto Bridge. "It's just wishy-washy, and if you get caught by the Shinobi Alliance, you're still a criminal."

"Are you finished?"

Haru ran a hand through his purple hair and muttered something Eana couldn't hear. As they got into Fire Country, he started to complain about being hungry.

* * *

Miyamoto Nobu stared at a torch across the cave from him, reflecting. "Twenty years… But now, only a little longer, and I will take what is rightfully mine," he murmured. "That stupid Orochimaru couldn't get it done. That's what he gets for putting the Sharingan in such high regard."

"Nobu-sama, Yomane is on his way with Kobayashi Masayoshi," announced Aome as he entered with two females.

"Perfect," Nobu answered. "Meiwaku, you will be Masayoshi-kun's partner. You remember your orders?"

The blonde woman, Meiwaku, nodded in the affirmative.

"Good. It's time," Nobu whispered.

* * *

**Konohagakure no Sato (The Village Hidden in the Leaves), Fire Country  
**Sara smiled at the cashier and wished him a nice day, collecting her bag of groceries and heading out of the store. Balancing the bag on her hip, she pushed on the glass door, but it felt inordinately heavy. And then she noticed that her vision was blurring and her breathing was coming in heavy gasps. The next thing anyone knew, she was on the floor, unconscious.

Across Konoha, five civilians and two other medic-nin also collapsed, all eight showing similar symptoms to the ones the comatose ANBU displayed. And, with Sara ill and Ai back on active mission duty, Sakura had no choice but to enlist Shizune in the fight against the unknown illness.

* * *

"So, aside from blood tests, there's no way to track the disease, and no known cure?" The hokage looked over the two medics before him, his brow furrowed in thought.

Shizune shuffled the papers, written on which was everything she and Sakura had been able to observe about the disease. Unfortunately, there wasn't much there.

Sakura cleared her throat, "We're not even completely sure what this… _thing_ is. We've begun referring to it as Parasitic Chakra Disease. It seems to eat away at a person's chakra, and if Patient Fifteen is any indicator, it will eventually start on their life energies when they run out of chakra to feed it."

Naruto growled under his breath, "And you don't know how to prevent it from spreading?"

"Keeping outside contact to a minimum is always the best option, since we don't know exactly how it spreads yet," supplied Shizune.

"Our best guess is that it's airborne," Sakura added. "But anyone who came in contact with any of the corpses from the ANBU platoon slaughter might be at risk as well."

Naruto looked carefully at Sakura, "Including you?"

"We checked Sakura's blood," Shizune put in. "There wasn't any indication that she was infected."

"And Ai-chan?"

Sakura bit her lip, "We'll be testing her and her team as soon as they get back. I just hope she doesn't get sick while she's away."

"Should we put out a warning to the villagers?" Shizune asked.

Naruto hesitated, turning his attention to his advisor, who had been completely silent during the medics' visit. "What do you think, Shikamaru?"

The Nara frowned. "If the villagers are aware of this new disease, they may panic, and then we could end up with riots. If we do not tell them, however, they won't be cautious of the disease and it will spread more quickly." Shikamaru took a breath, "Regardless, I believe it would be wisest to keep it a secret until we know more about it."

Naruto grunted. Shikamaru was his level-headed advisor who wasn't swayed by emotion, but Naruto's conscience could not allow him to lie to the people he was supposed to be protecting. "You know I value your opinion, Shikamaru, but I can't do that to the civilians _or_ the shinobi. Sakura, make sure all of the medics are tested in the next day, and tomorrow announce that testing for the villagers is open. Shinobi are priority, of course, but I don't want anyone slipping through the cracks or being considered unimportant."

Sakura bowed and excused herself, Shizune in tow. They had a lot to get done and they had to act fast if the intended to stop what could potentially end up being the worst epidemic in history.

* * *

Hatake Kakashi, once known and feared as the Copy Ninja of Konoha, had recently retired. In his advanced years, he now spent even more hours a day reading _Icha Icha_, a series which had died with its writer twenty years prior. In his retirement, Kakashi had attempted to continue the series on, but found he had no talent for prose. Also, there was something much less fun about writing _Icha Icha_ rather than reading it. He wanted to go back on active duty, or at least go back to teaching; life as a retiree was far too boring.

There was a knock on his door, and Kakashi stood from his threadbare couch to see who was visiting him. It could have been Gai, he supposed, but the knock was not accompanied by 'youthful' shouting, so Kakshi doubted this. He finally got to the door and opened it to find Haruno Shouichi, once his apprentice, now a jounin.

"Good afternoon, Shishou."

Kakashi beckoned the eldest Haruno child into his home and closed the door behind him. "Hello, Shou. To what do I owe the visit?"

"I was thinking about that ANBU massacre…"

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, "Glad you chose not to apply now?"

The pink-haired eighteen-year-old frowned. "I'm serious. There's something bad coming. I know everyone else can feel it, too, but nobody wants to talk about it."

"Shou, not everyone wants to face their fears and insecurities head-on like you. Some of us just want some peace for as long as we can keep it." Kakashi leaned against the wall and glanced out the window. "But you're right. There is definitely someone or something up to no good out there."

"That's why I want to start up training again."

Kakashi blinked at his apprentice, "You're certain?"

"You said once that there are other levels I can reach. I don't like it, but if I have to do this to keep my family safe, I will. And besides, I have a right to—"

Kakashi waved a dismissive hand, "No need to convince me. I've been looking for something to keep me occupied."

"Good. We'll meet tomorrow at the old training field. How does five sound?"

"You don't ever sleep in, do you?" Kakashi sighed, "Fine, five it is."

* * *

**Hidden Kurohi base, Mt. Ougonyama, Stone Country  
**It had taken over a day to get there, but Yomane and Masayoshi had finally arrived. Masayoshi had remained impassive to everything throughout their entire journey, and Yomane found his unchanging expression unnerving. He didn't enjoy not being able to read people.

Nobu received Masayoshi with open arms, and a satisfied smile. The old man had been collecting warriors for years, and with the addition of the last living descendant of the Uchiha clan, his collection was complete.

"He wants to speak to Mei," Yomane put in just after introductions were made, but before business could be discussed.

"Ah, of course. She's been waiting," Nobu nodded before beckoning to the woman, standing in the shadows. "Meiwaku, come forward and accept your punishment."

Mei approached them calmly and knelt before Masayoshi. Nobu appeared to have planned this all along, but even if not, her purpose had been served, and if Nobu asked that she die so that he could convince the sharingan-user to join him, she would gladly accept this fate. It was the least she could do after all Nobu had done for her.

"Look at me," Masayoshi commanded, and the blonde woman instantly complied. Masayoshi looked her in the eyes for a moment before turning to Nobu. "This is the person who killed my mother?" he asked.

"Meiwaku's body produces a poison that causes those around her to become sick," Nobu explained. "I created a cure for the illness many years ago, when I first met Meiwaku. Unfortunately, she is also slowly dying from her own poison, and my vaccine does not work on her."

"She is dying?"

"Slowly and painfully, Masayoshi-san," Nobu murmured softly. "She has perhaps a year left to live."

The Uchiha heir sighed and closed his eyes. "I will not have the blood of a dying woman on my hands," he said.

"Very kind of you, Masayoshi-san. Meiwaku, go take your medicine." As soon as Mei had left the room, Nobu gestured for his guest to take a seat. "Now, about my offer from before…"

"I'll do it."

Nobu was a little surprised by this. "You will? May I ask what changed your mind?"

"My mother is dead. I don't have anyone else to live for, and I find myself to be an inadequate master," Masayoshi expounded. "Perhaps with Kurohi, I can find a purpose."

"Purpose is what we strive for, Masayoshi-san."

* * *

Mei's breath was labored as she used the stone wall of the cave to support her weight. She was cold. _So cold_. In her hand, she clutched the vial of her medicine, a dose that had to be injected twice daily just to hold off the symptoms. Of course, her disease would not kill her nearly as quickly as it did everyone else who came in contact with it, but she knew she would die soon. Had Nobu's guess been right? She had only a year now?

She held back a sob as she injected the burning liquid from her syringe into her thigh. Within a few minutes, the freezing cold in her veins was replaced by the boiling heat of the medication. She pressed her body closer to the cool stone and closed her eyes as she caught her breath.

"You look like you had a wild night, Mei."

Mei cracked an eye open and glanced at the girl who had spoken to her. "You know me… I'm a party animal," Mei muttered lethargically.

Botan laughed, "If that animal's a sloth, maybe." The shackles that Botan still wore on her wrists jingled as she gestured toward the door Mei had just come through. "Is Nobu-sama busy in there?"

"Kobayashi Masayoshi has just arrived."

"Really? Is he cute?" asked Botan. When Mei's only response was a furrowed brow, the escapee laughed again. "Well, then I'll just leave reporting in to Aome. He's Nobu-sama's favorite, anyway." The brunette turned on her heel, "See ya!"

* * *

**A/N: **A lot of characters in this one.

**Masayoshi** is Itachi's son. Itachi was near death, and knew that his final battle with Sasuke was drawing near. He also knew that Sasuke had left Konoha to join Orochimaru, and suspected the Tobi would try to recruit Sasuke. Itachi, ever one with a backup plan, entered into an agreement with a woman from a sister clan to the Uchiha, the purpose of which was to have an heir to the Uchiha clan just in case Sasuke didn't end up having any children. To protect himself and his mother, Masayoshi goes by his mother's family name, Kobayashi, instead of Uchiha.

**Arasho Yomane** is the financial support of Kurohi. Though he is a skilled fighter with a powerful kekkei genkai, he usually stays out of the action and sticks to running errands. When put in teams of two, Yomane's partner is Oru.

**Ringo Haru** was one of the newly-reformed Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist before defecting. He is the wielder of the set of twin swords known as Kiba or Thunderswords. When put in teams of two, Haru's partner is Eana.

******Hōzuki** Eana is the daughter of Hōzuki Suigetsu, and as such has been trained to be proficient with any blade she should happen to get her hands on. Not actually being born into Kirigakure, however, she has no hands-on experience with the Seven Swords specifically.

**Miyamoto Nobu** is the founder of Kurohi. His goals are unclear as of yet, but he seeks to gain something he believes was taken from him.

**Meiwaku** is a loyal follower of Nobu, whose very presence has killed everyone around her in the past. Her name means "_nuisance_," and was given to her by the rogue ninja who taught her ninjutsu for nearly a year before dying.

**Haruno Shouichi**, 18, is the eldest son of Sakura and Sai, and the apprentice of Kakashi. He was recently promoted to jounin. As a genin, he was on a team with Kiiro and Sarutobi Suma under the supervision of Nara Shikamaru.

**Botan** is an escaped prisoner from Iwagakure. When put in teams of two, Botan's partner is Aome.

I thank those of you who are reading this labor of love of mine. Favorites are just as appreciated as reviews.


	4. Heritage

**Chapter Four: Heritage**

**Konohagakure no Sato (The Village Hidden in the Leaves), Fire Country  
**"Suma-chan? Kiiro-kun?" The pink-haired twelve-year-old looked around nervously. Every direction looked just as menacing as the last, and the genin couldn't find his teammates anywhere in the Forest of Death. "Suma-chan! Kiiro-kun!" he called out to them again.

Leaves rustled behind him and he turned, hoping to see the two people he had called out for. Instead, there was a raven-haired man. Embroidered on his robe between his shoulder blades was that strange red and white uchiwa fan that he had seen in his history book a few times while in the academy. The man turned, and for a moment, Shou thought he recognized the stranger.

"Dad?" he asked, but the dark-haired stranger only smirked, and his dark eyes began to glow red. Shou tried to run away, but found his way blocked by a mirror, and when he looked again, he was surrounded in a prison of mirrors. Where the stranger had stood, there was only a silhouette of a man, and Shou realized it was only a reflection of his now grown body, wearing _those robes,_ and staring back at him with _those eyes_.

Shou clutched his face and dropped to his knees. This couldn't be him. This couldn't be his destiny!

* * *

"Shou? Shou, wake up."

Haruno Shouichi gasped as he took in his surroundings. His girlfriend knelt beside him, worry drawn across her face as she brushed his sweat-soaked bangs out of his black eyes. "Suma?"

"You were having a nightmare."

Shou sat up and breathed a sigh of relief. "Sorry. Did I wake you?"

Suma pulled her mouth to the side. "Only a little. Do you want to talk about—"

"No!" Shou instantly regretted raising his voice and took her by the hand, kissing her fingertips. "No," he whispered. "I'm just worried about what could be coming. I'm training with Kakashi today, though, so hopefully that will put my mind at ease, and you won't get woken up in the night for a while."

"Don't you have to meet him at five?"

Shou glanced at the clock, which read 4:45. "I only _said_ five. I plan on getting there closer to six."

"He's going to be really mad if he gets there before you do," Suma warned with a yawn, lying back down. Her boyfriend flopped down behind her and put and arm around her waist, holding her against his chest.

"We both know that isn't going to happen."

* * *

**Forest near Konohagakure no Sato (The Village Hidden in the Leaves), Fire Country  
**Tamaki yawned. "Anything yet?"

A few feet away, Inuzuka Kubiwa raised his nose from where he was trying to pick up a scent. "You know, you're not very helpful," he pointed out. Kubiwa's wolf-dog, Chamaru barked his agreement before going back to his task of finding the scent of whoever had been responsible for the ANBU massacre.

"Sorry. They probably should have sent a _real_ Hyuuga," Tamaki muttered, adjusting his position and leaning against the tree behind him. Just then, Ai and Anju emerged from the forest and came to a stop on the path with Tamaki and Kubiwa.

"We went as far out as five miles, but it was clean," Anju briefed. "I sent my insects out further, so if there's anything, we'll know in a few minutes."

"How are you guys doing?" Ai asked.

Kubiwa grumbled and returned to hunting for a trail. "Not good. Hopefully Ren and Shikashi will come back with better news."

As if on cue, a green blur leapt from the trees, pouncing on Kubiwa's back. "Guess what we found!" she sang.

"Clearly it wasn't a manual on personal boundaries," grunted Kubiwa, flipping the woman off his back a letting her fall onto the road beside him.

Maito Ren bounced back up and dropped a cloth she was carrying into Kubiwa's lap. "My superior sleuthing skills have uncovered _this_ piece of the reprehensible ruffian's robes!"

Kubiwa and Chamaru each took a sniff before cringing. "Ugh. Getting a lot of blood," Kubiwa took a breath and went back in to get another smell. "Under that, there's white pine and… some kind of clay. I'd say probably from the western mountains."

"That's all we have to go on, then, because this thing didn't leave any tracks," came Shikashi's voice a moment before he emerged from the trees to join the rest of the group.

"How could something strong enough to wipe out a platoon of ANBU just disappear like that?" Ai wondered aloud.

Anju nodded, "That's a good question. There's a small village not far from here. Ren, Kubiwa, Chamaru and I will stay here and look into picking up a trail. You three head to that village and see if you can find anyone who saw anything."

"Hai, Sensei," the three said at the same time before taking to the trees without another word.

* * *

**Konohagakure no Sato (The Village Hidden in the Leaves), Fire Country  
**"You're late."

Shou scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "I had to stop and pull a cat out of a tree."

Even through his mask, Kakashi's frown was visible. "Right. Let's get started."

"Actually, can I ask you something first?" When Kakashi nodded, Shou went on, "I want to know more about the Uchiha clan."

"Well," Kakashi put a hand to his chin in thought, "Where to begin? They were one of the forming clans of Konoha, most known for their dojutsu, the sharingan." Kakashi subconsciously tapped the headband covering his left eye. "About thirty years ago, Uchiha Itachi went rogue, slaughtering his clan and fleeing the village," Kakashi explained. Of course, this wasn't completely accurate, but it was the story Itachi had died to preserve. "The only survivor of the massacre was Uchiha Sasuke, who eventually also left the village. Both brothers died as rogue ninja, leaving the Uchiha clan extinct."

Shou swallowed, "Am I like him?"

"No," Kakashi answered sincerely. "You're most like Sakura, if I had to name anyone." The copy-nin stretched, "Why such an interest in history so suddenly?"

Shou snorted a half laugh through his nose, "Honestly? I had a nightmare last night."

"Don't take your dreams so seriously. Anything that can change based on what you had for dinner is nothing to live your life by." Kakashi put a hand on the young jounin's shoulder, squeezing it briefly before stepping away and settling into a ready stance. "Now, are we here to talk, or are we here to train?"

* * *

Sarutobi Suma had never had the chance to meet her father, since he had died before most people even knew of her conception. This didn't get her down much, though. The role of her paternal figure had been taken over by her sensei, Nara Shikamaru, who had been equal parts discipline and compassion her whole life, and had actually done a great job of helping her mother bring her up right. She had also had the encouragement of her cousin, Konohamaru, and her parents' former students, Chouji, Ino, Kiba, Shino, and Hinata. Throughout her childhood, and even now into her adulthood, she had a virtual safety net of people there to love and support her.

Because of this, Suma was remarkable well-adjusted and average. Certainly better off than many of the other shinobi she knew. Never in her life had she buried someone she loved, which was unheard of for someone born into a ninja family—of course, this could be attributed to having so many family members die before she was ever even born, there weren't many left to lose by the time she came into the world. On top of that, the last Shinobi War had ended shortly after her birth, and the villages had been at peace for the twenty years since.

Yes, Suma was well-adjusted. Her teammate, Kiiro, however, was anything but.

"Listen, you asshole! I don't care if your second cousin's the freakin' daimyo!" Kiiro could be heard shouting before Suma even got in the building.

The crimson-eyed woman sighed, as she entered the gambling den and found the owner with Kirror, being held by two bouncers. The fact that the bouncers, a couple of chuunin past their prime, could hold Kiiro back told her that he at least wasn't fighting. They wouldn't have stood a chance if he was.

"How much does he owe?" she asked as she approached.

"I don't owe this cheating bastard a damn thing!" Kiiro interjected.

The boss, a short, plump man with a big, shiny bald spot on top of his head, glared at Kiiro before grinning at Suma. "I couldn't make a lady pay a man's debts. Especially not the granddaughter of the third hokage."

Suma's mouth gravitated to the side of her face, her default expression when she was irritated. "No, I'd rather just clear it up."

"Nonsense, nonsense. You just take your friend, and have a nice day." At the boss' word, the two chuunin let go of Kiiro's arms.

"But I—"

"Let's just go," Kiiro interrupted Suma's protests, dragging her out of the gambling den with him. Once outside, he squinted in the sunlight, muttering, "Oh, so that was seven _a.m._"

"I can't believe you just let him take my family name as a form of payment!"

"What's the big deal? We live in an era of legacy. If you can find a distant relative who even _looked at_ Akatsuki back in the day, you're set for life." Kiiro snorted, "Like I care if his second cousin was a corpse handler during the Shinobi War, and they have Uchiha Sasuke's eyes in a vault somewhere!"

"You need to stop going there. You lose all the time, and then you just claim that the dealer cheated."

"He must have! Otherwise, _my_ cheating would have worked."

Suma dropped her head in defeat and groaned. "Kiiro…"

* * *

**Namiaka Village, Fire Country  
**After an hour of asking around—which really was saying something, considering there were maybe a hundred people in the whole village—Ai, Tamaki, and Shikashi decided to rest at the village's only teashop. They ordered a pot to share, and sat themselves down at the tabled nearest to the door, paying little attention to the other patrons.

"I guess it was naïve of me to think it would be that easy," Tamaki lamented.

"Too long with the monks," Ai theorized. "They didn't make you work hard enough for information."

"It's all about freeing your mind in the monastery. Knowledge is not something to be hidden away."

Shiakashi frowned, "Back to the topic at hand. There are two pieces to this puzzle: Kurohi, and whatever it was that attacked those ANBU."

"I don't know why so many ANBU were mobilized at once," Ai added, making her teammates look at her. "Look, my dad was ANBU for a _long_ time. I know for a fact that they go in small, subtle groups. Not in large flocks in the broad daylight."

"Are you saying the hokage knows something?" Tamaki asked, a little offended that she might accuse his uncle-of-sorts.

"Not necessarily. Who's in charge of the ANBU other than the hokage?"

Shikashi's face went sour, "I hope you're not talking about my dad."

"Everyone's a suspect, but your dad seems unlikely," Ai assuaged him. "Unless there's a much bigger picture here that none of us are seeing."

Tamaki scratched his head, "So the theory is that _somebody_ with a hand in ANBU already knew about this killing machine, and probably Kurohi, and sent an entire platoon of ANBU to take care of it…"

At a table in the back corner, the purple-haired man's fish-like ears twitched. A single white eye wandered momentarily over his companion's shoulder in the direction of the three Konoha chuunin he'd just overheard. "Don't look now, but we've got friends."

Eana disregarded the first half of his statement and glanced over her shoulder. "We _do_. I'm gonna go have some fun with them."

Haru shrugged, "Whatever."

The young Hozuki smirked and stood. "Did I overhear you say Kurohi?"

Ai's green eyes flashed suspiciously, "I don't know. _Did_ _you_?"

"They're dangerous, as far as I've heard. I wouldn't go after them."

"Who are they?" Shikashi wanted to know.

Eana feigned fright, "They're this terrible group of S-ranked criminals."

Ai snorted, "Sounds like an Akatsuki wanna-be group, if you ask me."

"That's awfully brave of you," the blue-haired woman's act continued. "You three must be very strong shinobi." Grinning slyly, Eana pressed herself closer to Tamaki and batted her eyelashes.

The Hyuuga smiled nervously and leaned away. "Well, we can't go letting terrorist groups do what they want."

"No, no. Certainly not," Eana agreed, standing straight again. She looked back at her table, where he partner was scowling at her. "You ready to go, Haru?" she asked.

With a shrug and a sigh, Haru stood and led the way out of the teahouse. Eana only paused to wink at the three chuunin before she was gone as well.

In that next moment, several things clicked into place for Shikashi, and he jumped up, running to the doorway and throwing the door flap aside and looking out. The two were nowhere to be found, though. He turned once more to his curious teammates. "Did you see his cape?" he asked them.

"That tan monstrosity? I wish I could _unsee_ it," Ai snipped.

"Yes, _tan_. Like the piece of fabric we found in the woods," Shikashi told them. "And did you see what was on the back of it?" At the pair of blank stares he received, Shikashi let out an aggrieved sigh, "It was a black sun!"

Ai hurled herself from the table and darted past Shikashi, "We can still catch their trail!"

"Wait!" cried Tamaki, throwing money down on the table. "Shouldn't we wait for backup?" but his teammates were gone, leaving him with no choice but to follow.

* * *

"You shouldn't have engaged them," Haru muttered. He and Eana had just made it back onto the road heading toward Mt. Ougonyama after having to take a short detour to throw off their pursuers. "Nobu isn't going to be happy about this."

"I don't _care_ what Nobu's happy about. If I'm not getting paid, I'm going to do what I want and have fun!" Eana grinned at Haru, "Did you hear how they talked? They'd be dead in seconds if they caught up with Oru."

"There wasn't much danger in that, until you felt the need to draw attention to us. We'll be lucky if they don't locate the base and send every high-ranking shinobi they've got."

"Please, we're still miles out. You're so pessimistic." Eana expected a response, but it appeared that Haru decided to pout instead. They walked in silence for a few minutes after that, before Eana paused and grumbled under her breath.

"What was that?"

"Those three Konoha chuunin are approaching," Eana admitted. "They're persistent little buggers, aren't they?"

"Nobu is _really_ not going to be happy about this." Haru and Eana continued walking nonchalantly, but mentally prepared themselves for the confrontation that was to come. Moments later, Eana felt their trackers come to a stop nearby, no doubt formulating a plan of attack.

Without warning, three kunai cut through the air, all aimed at Haru. The rogue ninja deflected them easily with his Thunderswords, and Eana frowned.

"Why are they attacking you like _you're_ the biggest threat?"

"Because I am," Haru had just enough time to retort before a chakra-enhanced kick was flying down toward his head. Haru dodged Ai's foot before counterattacking with his swords, which Ai somersaulted out of the way of. From her place on the ground, Ai concentrated chakra into her fist and went to uppercut the swordsman.

Eana dodged a round of kunai and shuriken, twisting just in time to block a more direct attack from a tanto-wielding Tamaki. She disarmed him, flipping his tanto and catching it midair to use it against him. Tamaki sidestepped her slice, summoning a double-edged sword as he spun to avoid Eana's follow-up attack.

The woman clicked her tongue at him in pity, "Oh, dear, you really shouldn't have done that." A sharp-toothed grin followed, and in the next second, she had managed to procure his sword. She was much better at using the sword than she was the tanto, Tamaki noted with some distress as he had no choice but to retreat momentarily.

Ai took an electric shock from Haru's Thunderswords, and groaned In pain from her place on the ground. Haru stood over her and prepared one of the swords to finish her off.

"Silly child," he muttered, "Barely worth my time."

"Look out, I—"

Blood stained the road, and Ai shuddered. With a hard swallow, she looked to Shikashi, where he was hidden behind a tree. "Did you cut it close enough?" she shouted at him.

Above her, Haru grunted and glanced back at his partner, her stolen sword stabbed into his back and protruding from his chest. "Why… did… you…?" he managed.

"I can't control my body!" Eana defended. Her body jerked as Shikashi mimicked the act of pulling her sword out, and she in turn actually did it. When she was forced to assault her partner again, he dodged despite his wounds.

Catching on to Shikashi's trick quickly, Haru disappeared from the road, reappearing a second later beside Shikashi, who lost his concentration when Haru picked him up by the neck and threw him back to the ground. An audible _crack_ was heard, and Shikashi cradled his newly-broken arm as he tried to get back to his feet and get away.

With the Shadow Possession jutsu deactivated, Eana was free to do as she pleased, and she pleased to pick up where Haru had left off on killing Ai. Before she could, however, two kunai were embedded in her arm. Eana frowned at the Hyuuga before her arm turned to clear liquid. The kunai hit the ground with matching _clang_s, and when Eana's arm reformed, there wasn't a scratch on it.

While Eana was distracted by Tamaki, Ai tried to get up, but the lightning had left her body numb. She watched helplessly as Shikashi was also electrocuted, and Tamaki took one of his own blades to the stomach. With one of them unconscious, one paralyzed, and one bleeding out, it looked like Team Anju wouldn't last much longer.

"Freeze, foes, or feel my fury!" a voice echoed, before the green-clad blur that owned the voice had kicked Haru away from Shikashi and into a tree on the other side of the road, the trunk splintering in all directions. Ren stood with her hands on her hips, and mere moments later, she was joined by Anju, and Kubiwa and Chamaru.

Eana smirked and got ready to take on these new opponents, but a cough from Haru made her pause. The man had pulled himself to his feet, but his breathing was heavy, and a large puddle of blood was pooling around his feet. Eana growled, and even though it went against her better judgment, she dropped her weapon and went to Haru's side.

"This isn't over," she told the Konoha-nin as she supported Haru's weight on her shoulder. "When we meet again, you'll all die." With that, the two Kurohi members vanished.

"Don't think you can get away _that_ easily!" shouted Ren, preparing to give chase, but she was stopped by Anju.

"We need to get these three medical attention," Anju said. "Especially Tamaki."

Ai attempted once more to sit up, this time managing to, though it was a laborious task. "Bring Tamaki here," she commanded wearily. Though Anju tried to advise her against it, Ai held firm, and after a few false starts, green chakra began to mend the gash in her teammate's side. Ai's numb limbs didn't control her chakra as well as she'd have liked, and the chakra fluctuated periodically, but Tamaki's wound slowly grew to a more manageable scrape. She'd have liked to heal Shikashi's broken arm as well, but that was non-life-threatening, and she didn't have the chakra for both of her teammates at the moment. Convinced that Tamaki would now survive long enough to get back to Konoha, Ai allowed her exhaustion to get the better of her, and she slept.

"This is all my fault," Eana muttered, pulling Haru's shirt up far enough to get a look at the hole through his chest she'd given him.

"In its entirety," Haru agreed, earning him a sharp glare.

"You're supposed tell me that it _isn't_ my fault, bastard," Eana cursed. Seeing that his wound was too severe to stitch up, she offered her forearm to her partner. "Here, bite into my skin. It will heal you," she told him.

"No. If I am to survive this, it will be on my own," Haru stubbornly refused. "I have a medical kit in my pack. Get it for me."

"Idiot, you won't live long enough to get sewn up."

"Then I am not meant to live," he stated seriously.

With an annoyed growl, Eana did as he asked her, pulling out a needle and suture thread. When he tried to take it from her, she slapped his hands away. "I'll do it," she snapped. "We've already agreed this is my fault."

* * *

**A/N: **So some new characters in this one:

******Sarutobi Suma**, 20, jounin, is the daughter of Yuuhi Kurenai and the late Sarutobi Asuma. She was on Team Shikamaru with Haruno Shouichi (who is now her boyfriend), and Kiiro.**  
****Kiiro**, 20, jounin, is an orphan. He was on Team Shikamaru along with Sarutobi Suma and Haruno Shouichi.  
**Maito Ren**, 20, jounin, is Gai's daughter.  
**Inuzuka Kubiwa**, 20, special jounin, is Inuzuka Hana's son. **Chamaru** is his wolf-dog companion.


	5. Desire and Responsibility

**Chapter Five: Desire and Responsibility**

**Konohagakure no Sato (The Village Hidden in the Leaves), Fire Country  
**Uzumaki Hitomi sighed from her bed. Her father had always been overprotective, but with the recent attacks by the terrorists called Kurohi, it felt as though she was under house arrest. She was not allowed to leave often, and when she was, she was given an escort, usually ranked chuunin or higher. The way Hitomi saw it, this was a waste of a ninja's time; she was, after all, a chuunin herself. She frowned as she looked out her window at her younger brother, Tsubasa, training with their cousin, Tamaki.

Tamaki had always been close to the family, and not just for the blood he shared with them. He had been Hitomi's father's apprentice briefly before he had left to train in the mountains, he was a mentor to Tsubasa and had been for years, and—perhaps the most prominent bond—he was Hitomi's fiancé.

Hinata had never been valued very highly by the Hyuuga elders, even when she eventually became a capable kunoichi. They had set their sights on the younger heir long ago, and they were too stubborn to admit that they had perhaps misjudged Hiashi's eldest. When the young man, whom Tsunade had made it clear that she wanted to be the hokage when she stepped down, requested that he be allowed to marry Hinata, the elders had jumped at the chance to get one of their own as close to the hokage's office as possible.

The problem came when Hinata gave birth to a daughter, an Uzumaki by name, and that little girl had shown remarkable talent with her byakugan from a very young age. The elders wanted Hitomi back in the family, and they began looking for possible suitors within the clan. As it were, a baby boy had been born only a few weeks after Hitomi to Hyuuga Neji and his wife. It didn't take long before meetings were happening and deals were being made.

The terms of the contact stated that, should both Hitomi and Tamaki both agree to marry when they reached adulthood (as Naruto refused to force his daughter to do anything against her will), Hanabi and any heirs she should give birth to in the meantime would step down and the couple would take charge of the clan. The Caged Bird seal would also be abolished, as per Neji's demand for the contract.

Now nearly sixteen, Hitomi and Tamaki were getting close to the age at which they were expected to make a choice. Hitomi was willing to do anything for the good of Konoha, though, and she knew that with the Caged Bird seal on the line, Tamaki would agree to the wedding if for no other reason than to make his father happy.

She sighed and looked back out at Tamaki and Tsubasa's training session. It wasn't even that she didn't like Tamaki—she had no reason to; he was strong, and kind, and quite attractive—but he was like a brother to her. Being married to him would not be unpleasant, but when it came time to consummate the marriage, to produce heirs, things would be undeniably awkward.

* * *

"So how are things with that girl you like—what was her name, again?" asked Tamaki, easily side-stepping his young cousin's _obvious_ lunge.

Tsubasa's face went redder than his russet hair, and the boy had to remind himself that he was in the middle of training to keep from tugging on his jacket—a nervous habit that he had developed at some point in his early childhood. In response, the genin mumbled, "Sango-chan."

"_Sango_, right!" Tamaki had known this, of course; he just liked to tease the boy. "Ai's little sister," he clarified unnecessarily. "How are things with her?"

"She likes Shihei. All the girls do."

Tamaki chuckled, "Strange that an Aburame got to be the class heartthrob, but I guess every clan gets a turn now and then—the Hyuugas more than others."

Tsubasa grimaced. He was half Hyuuga, right? How come he didn't inherit any of their talent or dignity, or good looks, for that matter? He was pasty without the elegance that seemed to accompany the skin tone in his relatives, with auburn hair partially passed down from his paternal grandmother, and pupil-less periwinkle eyes that he had only managed to activate once before when his life had depended on it. In this regard, he was only slightly less of a failure than Tamaki in the eyes of the Hyuuga elders.

Though Tamaki always held back when they trained, he still managed to knock Tsubasa to the ground. Standing over his cousin, Tamaki sighed. "Let's take a break," he suggested, holding out a hand to help Tsubasa up.

"Can I ask your advice on something?" When Tamaki raised a curious eyebrow, Tsubasa continued, "What should I do if my parents try to arrange a marriage for me, but I like someone else?"

"Why do you think I have advice to give on the subject? Besides, who would your father try to betroth you to?"

Tsubasa scrutinized his shoes. "The kazekage has a daughter that's a year younger than me," he mumbled. "He's been exchanging a lot of letters with the kazekage lately."

"There could be another Shinobi War coming, depending on how extensive this Kurohi group actually is. He could just be making sure that the villages remain allies throughout the ordeal," Tamaki reasoned. "And even if he was looking to engage you to the kazekage's daughter, he wouldn't force you to marry her. Your dad isn't that kind of man." Seeing his cousin visibly relax, Tamaki smirked, "And think about this: if you married the kazekage's daughter, you'd probably have red-haired kids; if you married Sango-chan, you might have pink-haired kids. Do you really want to risk that?"

"Jirou-kun has pink hair, and he does okay. And so does his older brother."

"Those Haruno boys have an advantage that makes them pretty immune to teasing—Ai's their sister, so they're used to it."

Tsubasa snickered as they entered the Uzumaki family's house. They were met by Hitomi in the foyer, and she raised a brow at her brother, who refused to tell her what he was laughing about.

"It doesn't matter," the elder Uzumaki waved the subject off before turning her attention to Tamaki. "I'd like to go to the festival tomorrow evening," she told him. "Will you accompany me?" She knew she'd need an escort, and Tamaki was the least restrictive of those who had been assigned the job in the past.

He shrugged, "That's fine. I was going to go, anyway." He looked to Tsubasa, "Are you planning on going, too?"

Tsubasa shook his head, "My team leaves for a mission tomorrow. We won't be back until Monday." The genin looked between the two chuunin, before he settled his attention on Tamaki once more. "Who were you going to go with?"

"My teammates," Tamaki answered. "And then we were going to meet up with Tai and Shippo a little later." Tamaki grinned at Hitomi, whose cheeks had gone red, "I'm glad you're going. It will even out our numbers so no one will feel left out."

Hitomi bowed suddenly and excused herself, running back up the stars and to her room. Down in the entryway, both boys heard her door close firmly, before Tsubasa gave Tamaki a questioning look and Tamaki only chuckled and went back outside.

* * *

"Two rooms, please," the sable-haired man requested.

The desk clerk, a middle-aged woman with greying brown ringlets, smiled sympathetically. "I'm sorry, we only have one room available," she told the man and woman on the other side of the desk. "With the festival, you'll be lucky if it isn't booked in the next few minutes—otherwise, I'd recommend another hotel to you."

Masayoshi glanced sidelong at his "partner," the blonde woman who he was told had been responsible for his mother's death. He wasn't sure why Nobu had chosen her for him to work with. He held no animosity toward the dying girl, but she was far from his favorite person, given the circumstances.

"Are you sick, dear?" the clerk asked, noting Mei's medical mask. "We have the best healer in the world right here in Konoha," she informed the two visitors. "Oh—but that might be why you're here! I shouldn't have assumed it was for the festival," the clerk continued to ramble on, but Masayoshi and Meiwaku were too busy having a silent conversation with their eyes to listen.

_'We don't have much chance of getting two rooms anywhere else,'_ Masayoshi's expression seemed to say.

_'The mission is more important that our comfort,'_ Mei's single nod agreed.

A quick glance at the clerk. _'Then I'll tell her we want the room?'_

A shrug. _'I don't mind.'_

Masayoshi interrupted the woman midsentence, "We'll share the one room then, thank you. We'll be checking out in two days."

"Oh, of course! Here's your room key. Have a nice stay!"

Masayoshi marched down the hall without another word, Mei in tow, until they came to their door, which Masayoshi unlocked and stood aside to let his partner in first. The two of them surveyed the room until both of their eyes fell on the single bed, and Masayoshi could have sworn he heard his ever-silent partner groan. Regardless of how they felt about it, however, they would make this work, because failure was not an option.

* * *

"Should we really be allowing this festival to go on in the midst of an outbreak of a foreign, incurable thus far, disease?" Sakura asked from her place, slouched into the hokage's chair. Said hokage was at the window, looking out over the village that he had sworn to protect.

"If this keeps us from doing the things we love, it's already killed us," he muttered. "The villagers know the risk, and I'm sure there will be a lot of people who choose to stay home tomorrow." Naruto looked at Sakura seriously, "How _is_ a cure coming?"

"It would help if we could find where the infection comes from," Sakura admitted. "Most vaccines are made by injecting just a little bit of the dead virus, but this is mutating at such a speed that it's attacking at a different angle as soon as we figure out how stop whatever it's currently doing."

"I'm guessing Ai isn't infected?"

Sakura gave a relieved sigh, "No. And her teammates were clean, too. In fact, we tested everyone from that tracking team that came in contact with those two Kurohi members—even Chamaru. All clean."

Shikamaru entered the room with two tidy stacks of papers, then. "I took the liberty of going through your paperwork last night," he informed Naruto. "This pile is what you'll want to approve, this pile is what you'll want to deny, and _this_"—Shikamaru put a single manila folder between the two stacks—"is that _thing_."

Sakura furrowed her brows, "What _thing_? What, I'm not qualified to know?"

"Not this, Sakura-chan." Naruto grinned goofily at his almost-sister, but his tone was clear and to the point. _No_.

Sakura didn't argue. She knew that voice—that was Naruto's _hokage voice_, and it meant you weren't dealing with your childhood friend, you were dealing with your _boss_. All of the Konoha Twelve recognized this fact and had accepted it long ago. "I should probably get back to my research. I just wanted to report in," Sakura said, standing. "I'll talk to you later." With that, she left Naruto's office.

As soon as Saukra was out of the room, Naruto held up the manila envelope to indicate who he was talking about. "Summon her here."

* * *

Shikashi blew his bangs out of his eyes and glanced up at the sun, calculating the time. He should have known better than to arrive early. The festival had just barely started, and there were no more than ten people wandering around at the moment, leaving Shikashi bored and waiting for Ai and Tamaki to show up at the meeting spot they'd designated a few days beforehand. Mercifully, Hitomi was a stickler for punctuality, and she made sure she and Tamaki were on time.

The two pale-eyed cousins came around the corner at exactly four o'clock, and Hitomi bowed to the son of her father's adviser. "I hope you haven't been waiting long," she said politely.

Shikashi shrugged, "Only a couple minutes. We'll see how long we have to wait for Ai, though."

"Knowing her, she's probably still fussing with her hair," Tamaki predicted with a good-natured eye roll.

"Ye of little faith," came the Haruno girl's voice behind them, and they turned to find her standing there, arms crossed in indignation.

"Oh, Ai, you're early," was Shikashi's facetious reply, to which Ai only stuck her tongue out at him.

"Tai and Shippo will be here in about an hour," Tamaki told them, changing the subject before things could get ugly. "What do you want to do until then?"

"Well, I don't know about you three, but I'm getting hammered," Ai muttered, wandering off toward the concession area. Ai was the only one of the current group who was old enough to drink, the drinking age of shinobi being sixteen, regardless of their civilian counterparts being forced to wait until they were twenty. When a ninja was putting their life on the line for the village, and their life expectancy was only about thirty, it was only fair that they be treated as adults at a younger age than non-shinobi.

"Great," muttered Shikashi sarcastically. "Why did we make plans with her again?"

Tamaki kept his smile in place, "Because she is our teammate, and, whether you admit it or not, our friend."

Shikashi was unconvinced, "Mm-hm." He glanced at Ai's retreating back and sighed through his nose. "I should probably go with her. Keep her from doing anything stupid." The Nara didn't wait for a response before maneuvering through the growing crowd after her.

"Well, I guess it's just you and me," Tamaki grinned at Hitomi. "What would you like to do, Hitomi-hime?"

* * *

Shikashi grumbled for what seemed like the thousandth time that minute, and Ai sneered at him.

"You didn't _have_ to follow me, and nothing's _keeping_ you here now. Leave if you're bored," all but snarled before slamming her drink back and turning to glare at her self-appointed nanny. Her viridian eyes bore into his muddy brown ones stubbornly, but he only stared back passively. If he had learned anything from his father, it was to disengage when a woman wanted an argument—that was the only way to win. Shikashi knew from experience that Ai hated when he didn't counter. She saw it as him not taking her seriously, and it only served to fuel her anger, but at least she didn't get the satisfaction of getting a rise out of him.

"Every time you drink alone, you get yourself into trouble."

She snorted, "I do not."

"Remember when you had to pay for that wall? Not to mention the hospital bills…"

"The bastard deserved it. I _told_ him I wasn't interested."

Shikashi pursed his lips as Ai's whiskey was refilled, and she downed it in only a few gulps. "You might want to slow down a little."

"Shut up, you know-it-all," she bit back. "I get enough of that crap from Shou." She was already starting to slur her words, Shikashi noted with some irritation. The last time they had done this, Ai had missed her curfew and been locked out of her house, so Shikashi had to take her to her brother and Suma's apartment for the night. Shou had not been amused, and made it clear that Ai was not allowed in his house after ten p.m. ever again—especially if she was in a drunken stupor.

There were so many things that Shikashi wanted to point out right then. So many ways he was _right_ and she was _wrong_, but he kept his mouth shut and watched Ai pour drink after drink down her throat. He wondered if this was a learned behavior, or if being a medic was stressful enough to break one's mind, because Ai's mentor and mother had gone through a borderline-alcoholic phase when she was younger, and her mentor, Tsunade, had been a known drinker and gambler. He found the link between medical brilliance and alcoholism was a sort of _chicken-or-egg_ question.

"You know what?" Ai asked suddenly, abruptly jolting Shikashi from his thoughts. By now, she had nearly accomplished her goal of being 'hammered.' "_You know what_?" she insisted.

Shikashi sighed, "What?"

"You don't make a big deal out of anyone else's love life but mine," she observed. "I think you're jealous."

"I think you're drunk."

Ai's inebriated sagely nod was little more than an awkward head-wobble to anyone who happened to be observing the conversation. "And you always change the subject when someone hits too close to home."

"Seriously, how many have you had?"

She shook her finger at him, smiling goofily. "See?"

"Fine. I make a big deal out of your love life because my dad was Shouichi's sensei, making him like a brother to me, which makes you like a sister to me, so I can't help but feel responsible for you."

"Sounds like you had to stretch it a little." Shikashi opened his mouth to argue, but Ai was off on something else. "You know, you were mean to me in the academy."

"I was not mean to you."

"Yeah, you were. You used to try to distract me during tests."

Shikashi rubbed his forming migraine. "I was only asking that you perform faster."

"Oh my _gahd_, you're so arrogant!"

"Keep your voice down, people are staring," Shikashi hissed, ducking his head so he wouldn't have to make eye contact with any of the other patrons.

Ai scowled, "Ain't you people got anything else to worry about? Piss off!" Everyone instantly averted their eyes, and Ai nudged Shikashi with a grin. "Fixed it."

"Can we _please_ just leave already?" Shikashi froze when Ai plopped her head on his shoulder.

"Mmm," she muttered. "Carry me."

* * *

After walking around the festival grounds a few times, playing a few carnival games, Hitomi coming out of it with a stuffed fox and Tamaki with a lucky cat keychain, and sampling some of the treats that the vendors were peddling, Tamaki and Hitomi arrived back at the meeting place, where Tai, Shippo, and Shippo's canine companion, Midoriki were waiting. They decided to get some real dinner before the fireworks started.

They went to their usual hang out eatery, where they found the Akimichi siblings sharing tempura. The group of chuunin chose the table next to the siblings'. Slyly, Tamaki chose the seat beside Shippo, forcing Hitomi and Tai to sit side by side. They both blushed when they realized they'd be sitting next to each other.

"Good afternoon, Hitomi-san," Akimichi Inoe greeted his best friend from the academy's older sister. "How are you enjoying the festival?" he asked. Though naturally husky due to his genetics, Inoe was a studier of the Yamanka clan's _hiden_ jutsu, and as such was considered the more 'attractive' of the Akimichi siblings. I didn't hurt that his mother had been kind enough to pass both her hair and eye color down to her son.

"Good afternoon," Hitomi nodded in return. "I'm enjoying myself quite a lot, thank you. Have you had a chance to get around the grounds yet?"

Inoe looked skyward, but grinned, "Not yet. _Somebody_ is holding us up."

"We'll get around to the vendors before the night is done," Inoe's sister waved off his jab. "You think I'd pass up a change to get chocolate bananas or tomorokoshi? What else is the festival for, other than the food?"

"Oh, dear," Tamaki teased. "Somebody didn't pay any attention at all in history, did they?" He turned to Inoe, "Please tell me _you_ know what this festival is about."

"The end of the Fourth Shinobi War?" Inoe guessed.

Hitomi nodded at the blond, "That's right, Inoe-kun. Twenty years ago, after Akatsuki was defeated, and the Shinobi Nations finally achieved peace between the countries, Konoha celebrated the return of their shinobi from the war, and mourned those lost. Now, every year, we hold this festival in honor of that first celebration."

"I still say the food is the most important part," Chou muttered as she finished the last of her tempura. "We hate to run off on you guys, but Inoe and I have a lot of stuff to do before the fireworks start."

The Akimichis paid for their meal and left, Inoe calling, "It was nice seeing you," back at them as he and Chou left the restaurant.

"How do you know those two so well?" asked Shippo of the pale-eyed cousins at her table.

Tamaki shrugged, "Inoe-kun and Tsubasa-kun were nearly inseparable when they were in the academy, and Chou-chan is on Hiru-sama's squad with him. I see her a lot at the Hyuuga compound when she comes to walk with him to training."

"It seems like the village is getting smaller and smaller. We're all connected one way or another," Shippo pointed out. "But I guess with clans being less particular about marriages and what-not, a lot of people end up being cousins, even if not by blood purely because all of our parents were so close growing up."

"That's true," agreed Tai. "So about Kurohi… What happened when your team fought them?" he asked Tamaki.

"Well, in short, they kicked our butts. If Anju-sensei, Ren-neesan, and Kubiwa-san hadn't been there, my teammates and I would be dead," Tamaki admitted. "Luckily, they got to us in time to scare off those two Kurohi and get us back to Konoha. Then the medics healed up Shikashi's arm, and put Ai on bed rest for a day. I was probably the worst off, but Ai managed to heal me on the field before she passed out."

"She really is something, huh?" Shippo murmured. "I mean, Ai's a pain in the ass, but she's on her way to being as good a medic as her mom."

Tai sighed, "It's too bad we can't all be looking at those kinds of prospects."

"You know what, though?" Tamaki said, "I'm actually really proud of myself and my accomplishments. It doesn't matter what the Hyuuga elders have to say."

"Good attitude to have," praised Shippo.

Dinner was finished in relative silence, and as the world outside the window was bathed in orange sunset, the four left the restaurant, Midoriki falling in step with Shippo as soon she the Inuzuka had set foot back outside the 'no dogs allowed' establishment. To reward Midoriki for her patience, Shippo gave her three leftover pieces of tempura. The evening saw a much thicker crowd, and it was becoming easier for them to accidentally lose each other.

They had found a good spot from which to watch the fireworks before Tamaki gasped. "I just remembered that I promised to bring Hiru-sama something back, since the elders wouldn't let him come here today."

"We can go find something for him," Tai offered, but Tamaki shook his head.

"I don't want to lose this spot," he reasoned. "I'll just go grab something. You guys stay here." Tamaki ducked into the crowed then, leaving no room for further discussion.

"I should probably find something for Kubiwa-niisan. Be right back," Shippo said before she also left, Midoriki faithfully at her side.

Left alone, Hitomi and Tai blushed and avoided eye contact. After a few minutes, Tai took a deep breath and attempted to converse with the beautiful girl standing beside him in the sea of people.

"Excited for the fireworks?" he asked.

Hitomi shrugged, "I do enjoy them, but I wish this day wasn't ending so soon."

"Why's that?"

"My father is so protective. I don't get to go out and have fun like this often."

Tai hummed, "Yeah, I noticed. You don't come along much when we all hang out as a group."

"I'd like to, but it is the way it is, I suppose."

"Yeah, but it'd be nice to see more of you." Tai jerked, realizing what he'd just said. "I mean _we_ would like to see more of you! That is, I mean, we'd like to see you more often!" Noticing that people had begun staring, he dropped his gaze and sighed. "I'm just going to stop talking now."

Hitomi watched the side of his downtrodden face silently as the first firework went up. Biting her lip, she slowly lifter her hand until her fingers found his palm. He started, but after a shaky breath, he smiled and laced his fingers with hers.

* * *

Tamaki found a booth that was selling children's masks and folding paper fans. He looked over the masks for a moment before examining the fans. There were ones with flowers and dragons, ones with birds, and plain ones with the Hidden Leaf insignia as their only decoration.

"Can I get this mask, please?" asked a voice from beside Tamaki, and he stepped out of the way of the woman attempting to buy a brown wolf mask. "It looks like Chamaru, doesn't it?"

Tamaki looked up to find Shippo standing beside him, the wolf mask in her hands. "It does," he nodded. He then held up two fans, "Which of these should I get for Hiru-sama?"

"The one with the monkey, definitely."

Tamaki paid for the fan before tucking it away in his sleeve. He and Shippo then began their walk back to Tai and Hitomi in silence. It wasn't long, though, before Shippo finally spoke.

"Are we just not going to talk about this?"

Tamaki sighed, "I should have done things differently, I know. And running off to the mountains as soon as I told you about my engagement was cowardly."

"You can say that again."

"Before all that, though, I shouldn't have gotten involved with you." Tamaki frowned, "Us dating was a mistake."

"Are you saying that because of Hitomi-san, or is this actually about _us_? You never gave me the chance to say anything. You just sprung it on me and then you left."

"I'm sorry. But I felt it was only fair to let you get on with your life. I can't promise you a future, Shippo."

"Who said I expected a future promised to me? All I wanted was for my boyfriend to come back so I could give him _this_," without another word, Shippo took his face in her hands and kissed him. Above them, the fireworks popped and fizzed, but the two teens couldn't care less about the show.

* * *

Shikashi glanced over his shoulder at the fireworks which had just started. On his back, Ai rode piggyback, snoring and drooling on his shoulder. He grumbled. What a waste of a day. Why had he even bothered getting up at all that morning? The Nara finally got his teammate to her house, and set her on her feet at her doorstep, where she wobbled, but ultimately managed to stay standing.

"Good night, Ai," he said, turning to walk away, but the girl grabbed his sleeve and wouldn't let go. She forced him to face her.

"Did you ever believe in me?" she asked. "I know you thought you were better, but did you have any faith in my abilities at all?" Her mood had become melancholy quite suddenly, and Shikashi wasn't sure what to say. "Why does everyone look at me like I'm the villain?"

"Because you're ambitious, Ai," Shikashi answered. "They see Orochimaru in you, and it doesn't help that you're trying to recreate some of the techniques used by Yakushi Kabuto. History has shown us that ambition leads to destruction—just look at the Uchiha clan."

Ai smirked humorlessly, "That's right. I'm just like an Uchiha." She turned away, opening up her front door before giving Shikashi a look. "You want to stay the night?"

"_Good night, Ai_," was Shikashi's firm response and he turned on his heel and walked away.

* * *

**A/N:** More characters introduced in this one. We have:

**Uzumaki Hitomi**, 15, chuunin, the daughter of hokage Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Hinata.  
**Uzumaki Tsubasa**, 12, genin, Hitomi's younger brother. He is on a team with Haruno Sana and her brother, Sanjirou ("Jirou").

**Rock Tai**, 16, chuunin, son of Rock Lee. He is on a team with Shippo.  
**Inuzuka Shippo**, 16, chuunin, daughter of Inuzuka Kiba. Her name means tail.

**Akimichi Chou**, 13, genin, daughter of Akimichi Chouji and Yamanaka Ino. She is on a team with Hyuuga Hiruzen ("Hiru").  
**Akimichi Inoe**, 12, genin, Chou's younger brother. He is on a team with Haruno Sango and Aburame Shihei.


	6. Turncoat

**Chapter Six: Turncoat**

**Konohagakure no Sato (The Village Hidden in the Leaves), Fire Country  
**Tamaki rolled over and stretched, finding the clock on the nightstand and reading the time. He sat up, a little surprised that he had slept in so late, and surveyed the room. Shippo had never been particularly girly, but looking at her room, you wouldn't even know a girl lived in the _house_. Tamaki collected his clothes off the floor and dressed before going in search of Shippo.

He found her in the kitchen with her cousin, Kubiwa and his mother, Hana, who greeted Tamaki warmly the moment she saw him. Tamaki loved the Inuzukas; their loud natures, their wild senses of humor, and most of all, their eagerness to welcome people into their home and treat them like family.

"Did you have fun at the festival last night?" Hana asked, putting a plate of eggs, toast, and salmon at the empty seat of the table and beckoning Tamaki to it. He sat and an additional bowl of miso soup and cup of tea were given to him without him asking for them.

Tamaki nodded in answer to Hana's question before turning to Kubiwa, "Did you just get in this morning? Any news on Kurohi?"

The bags under Kubiwa's eyes said enough about how long the Inuzuka's night had been, but he answered, "Our squad was dismissed this morning. We couldn't find anything."

"Dad's on the tracking team out looking now," Shippo put in.

"The only reason you're not dead this morning, Hyuuga," Kubiwa added.

Shippo elbowed her older cousin. "Nothing happened," she insisted, her tone suggesting that she and Kubiwa had been having this conversation all morning.

Hana chuckled, and shooed her son out of his chair, "Go get some sleep." As Kubiwa left the kitchen, Hana turned her attention to Shippo, "Hurry and finish eating. You're in charge of feeding the puppies today."

* * *

"Chou, sweetie, it's time to get up," Ino called through her daughter's door. When she got no response, she sighed and opened the door. "Your breakfast is getting cold." When the little lump on her bed still didn't stir, Ino clicked her tongue and put a hand on Chou to shake her awake. The little girl was burning up, the sheets around her soaked with sweat, and Ino gasped as the blood drained from her face.

* * *

"We're not criticizing you…"

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the two Konoha Elders in his office, "Except that's exactly what you're doing."

"The festival should have been cancelled. It's as simple as that. Now we're dealing with thirteen more outbreaks of this new disease, and we can't help but feel that it's due to a lapse in judgment on your part, Hokage-sama," the second Elder stated bluntly, in stark contrast to the more tactful first.

At his desk on the other side of the office, Shikamaru said nothing. The newly infected patients weren't just from Konoha, but visitors from the surrounding villages as well, and the whole incident was turning into a public relations nightmare. Now the Fire daimyou was calling for an explanation, while the villages' kages were questioning the Hokage's leadership skills for the first time since Naruto took the position. Even Gaara had sent a diplomatically-worded letter.

"We stand at the edge of what could be the first closed-border relationship with our neighboring countries in fifty years, and while Konoha appears to be taking this… _plague_ in stride, the rest of the shinobi villages are terrified," the second Elder went on while the other kept his head bowed uncomfortably.

"Konoha isn't responsible for the actions of a terrorist organization," Naruto defended.

"The point of the matter, _Hokage-sama,_ is that we are under biological attack, and you chose to not only encourage the citizens to flood into the streets for the day, but to also invite outsiders into our village, knowing that they were at risk."

"I've said it several times already," Naruto argued, "We will not be controlled by fear of these crazy people. I have carried on the traditions of the five previous Hokage, and that includes not giving in to the threats of criminals."

"And where was that zero-tolerance policy when Uchiha Sasuke was at large?" the Elder bit back.

Naruto's temper flared, "I know you were against putting _a monster_ in the Hokage's office back when Tsunade made the announcement, but if you're trying to use the compassion I had for my friend in my youth as a way to make me look bad…!"

"Naruto," Shikamaru interrupted, the informal use of his name pulling the Hokage back to himself. With Naruto calming down, Shikamaru turned to the Elders, "Since this conversation has strayed from the subject at hand, we have no choice but to assume that you have nothing more to say on it. The Hokage is not required to explain himself to you; this being the case, please show yourself out."

* * *

Masayoshi was only vaguely aware of the blonde following him. She was silent—unusually so, even for a ninja. She blended in, and if he hadn't known she was with him, he might not have noticed her pursuit at all. The day before had gone well; as soon as they managed to make it safely out of Konoha, they could declare the mission a success. He continued down the busy main street, heedless of his partner until he realized that she was suddenly no longer following him.

Mei panted as she clung to a lamppost, that familiar, dreaded cold feeling washing over her, but doing nothing to dull the pain that tore through every nerve in her body. She was dimly aware of the attention she was drawing—the exact opposite of what she and her partner needed at the moment—but being able to _feel_ every cell in her body dying, she was unable to care much. She pushed her agony to the back of her mind while she prepared another dose of her medicine. She knew she wasn't due for another dose yet, and taking more than she had planned to need would mean not having enough for the rest of the journey. This was a bridge she would cross when she got to it.

"Is she okay?" asked a concerned villager to Masayoshi, who had come to her side to help her support her own weight.

"She's fine," Masayoshi told the nosey crowd, despite the fact that he didn't actually know that she was okay. "Don't stand there and stare, give her some privacy," he ordered then, and everyone instantly went about their business. To his left, he felt Meiwaku give herself the injection, followed shortly after by a spike in her temperature. "Can you make it?" he asked.

She nodded, and stood on shaking legs. Convinced her strength was back for the moment, she bowed her head, "Thank you." The Kurohi duo went on their way, quickly making for the edge of the village.

* * *

"There has to be a way around it," Shou muttered thoughtfully.

"There isn't," Kakashi told him authoritatively. "Trust me, there isn't. The only way to move on to the next level is to witness the death of the person you're closest to."

Shou mussed his hair, aggrieved. "Then what am I supposed to do? I've practically mastered every variation of Chidori—even Raiden!" Calming down, Shou sighed, "I know it probably seems silly that I'm so worried, but I can't stand the thought of not being strong enough to protect the people I care about."

"There's no shame in wanting to get stronger," Kakashi told him. "But maybe instead of striving for the Mangekyo Sharingan, you should gain knowledge of as many other techniques as you can. There's an opening for a Copy-nin in this village—I am retired, after all."

"No offense, but I'd like to make a name of my own. Not just be The Copy Ninja Part Two."

"I hear they call you Fearsome Pink."

The younger man groaned. "Don't remind me." Shou adjusted his jounin vest and turned to leave. "I'm supposed to meet up with Suma and Kiiro for dinner, so I'm gonna go grab a shower before then. See you, Shishou." Behind him, Shou heard Kakashi disappear, and knew that there was a puff of smoke where the ex-ninja had been. Rubbing a sore shoulder, Shou left the training field as well, coming to the main road before long. The street was busy, as was usual given the time of day, so Shou moved swiftly through the river of people, nit paying much attention to any of them. He didn't notice the two tan-cloaked Kurohi members as they passed him, but he _did_ notice the red-clad chuunin following them.

Falling into step beside her, he asked, "Where are you going, Ai?"

She scowled at him, but her eyes betrayed her startlement. "Keep your voice down," she whispered. "See those two up there? They're Kurohi."

"Why didn't you alert?!"

"I don't want to risk getting the villagers harmed. I'm going to follow them outside the village before I engage them."

"Negative," ordered Shou, no longer her brother, but now her superior officer. "You will report to the Hokage and ask him to send backup. I will remain in pursuit."

"But I—"

"That was not a request."

Ai frowned, "Yes, Taichou." She clearly wasn't happy about it, but she compliantly fell back and took off in the other direction.

Shou stayed on their tail, and if they noticed, they didn't acknowledge him. If they did want a fight, Shou would have to stall for time, because after a day of training with Kakashi, he wouldn't be in top form. If Kurohi was anything like he was told Akatsuki had been, he might be hard-pressed to beat them even at one-hundred percent. Regardless, simply letting them escape wasn't an option.

Once outside the village, they took to the trees, and Shou let them get a little more headway before he followed suit.

* * *

Sakura looked down at the woman who had at one point been her best friend. Ino knelt beside her daughter's hospital bed, and it was clear to Sakura that the Yamanaka was fighting back tears. Aside from machines monitoring Chou's vitals, the room was silent. Sakura cleared her throat as she closed the door behind her. "Where's Chouji?"

"Mission," Ino croaked.

Sakura pursed her lips. "Well, Inoe's blood tests came back negative, so he'll be okay. I do have to prohibit visitors from seeing Chou, but if you want to stay with her, that's understandable."

"Tell me honestly, Forehead: how close are you to a cure?"

"We're not," Sakura answered solemnly, ignoring the undesirable nickname. "I promise you, I'm working around the clock on this. I haven't even been home in four days."

Ino looked back down at Chou. "She's too young to die," she murmured, running her fingers through the girl's brown hair. "Especially like this."

Sakura swallowed, not knowing what to say. What _could_ she say? Healing cuts, mending broken bones, creating antidotes for poison—those were all things she could do, and she did them well, damn it. But watching a mother grieve her child wasn't something she handled well, and even with over twenty years as a medic under her belt, it was among her greatest fears as a healer. Leaving the room, Sakura walked the hall quickly until she came to the research lab. She _would_ find a way to cure this disease, and that's all there was to it.

* * *

"Mom, I'm home," Tamaki called into the house as he entered. He heard footsteps approaching the foyer, but instead of Tenten, Neji appeared, and Tamaki habitually pulled up his poker face. "Good afternoon, Father."

Neji was wearing that _look_, the _'you're a disgrace'_ look that Tamaki had grown accustomed to, as it was the only expression he had seen from his father since Hitomi had activated her Byakugan. Tamaki would have liked to have said he was surprised, but he knew this was coming.

"Where have you been all morning?" asked Neji, his words clipped and precise.

"At Tai's," Tamaki lied.

"Not according to Lee. Are you suggesting he's a liar?"

"Why the sudden interest in me, Father?"

Neji's eyes narrowed slightly, but aside from that, his expression didn't change. "Did I not tell you that you were to meet with the Elders this morning?"

Tamaki recalled the morning before, when Neji had told him that the Elders wanted to speak to him at eight o'clock the next day. Tamaki didn't know what they wanted to speak to him about, but he could guess that they simply wanted to remind him that he wasn't worthy of his name, as usual. Tamaki got enough of that every other day, though, and justified skipping the conference by the fact that he hadn't actually _agreed_ to attend. "Must have slipped my mind," Tamaki lied again.

"Do not think that the Hokage's favor will save you from them, Tamaki. They can kill you for a _thought_, and Naruto has no power over clan politics. His interference would only thrust the Hyuuga into war against the rest of the village," said Neji.

"I'm not just going to tiptoe around the Main Branch with my head down."

"You will if you want to keep it."

Tamaki glared at his father, "It's good to know that you would rather live on your knees than die on your feet. It saves me the trouble of having to respect you."

"Tamaki!" Neji called, but the young Hyuuga had already left, slamming the door behind him.

* * *

**Forest near Konohagakure no Sato (The Village Hidden in the Leaves), Fire Country**  
Shou came to a sudden halt, flipping back off the branch and landing nimbly on the forest floor below. Where he had stood in the tree just moments before, the black-haired man in the tan Kurohi cloak was straightening himself after his failed attack. Sharingan ready for battle, Shou looked up at him, only to freeze on the matching crimson orbs that stared back.

"I thought I was the only one," Shou muttered to himself.

"As did I" answered Masayoshi. For the briefest moment, he was torn between finishing his mission, and comparing notes on his mysterious dojutsu with the pink-haired stranger. In the end, his better judgment won out, and he chose not to take battle advice from his enemy. He formed the seals for snake, ram, monkey, boar, horse, and tiger, and took a deep breath.

Shou dodged as a monstrous fireball engulfed the area, spring boarding off a tree trunk and hurtling himself at Masayoshi, his hand alight with the chidori. This time it was Masayoshi's turn to dodge, and he landed in a crouch on a branch a few yards away. Huffing with the effort, Shou dislodged his fist from the tree where Masayoshi had been standing. He couldn't do this much longer—not with this little chakra. He had maybe one more chidori's worth left, and then he was sure to pass out from exaustion. He hid his fatigue from his opponent, silently willing help to arrive sooner.

Suddenly the blonde woman, who Shou cursed himself for forgetting about, came at him from the right. Through his Sharingan, Shou could see chakra black as death surrounding her hand. He swung from his perch, gracefully leaping to a new tree. Looking back, the tree where he had been was turning black from the woman's touch, and he watched it dies before his eyes. She looked to him with cold eyes, and he would have believed that she was death itself.

Shou stood trapped between the two, his only options being to use what was left of his chakra with the hope of taking one of them out, the exhaustion of which leaving him vulnerable to the other and most definitely facilitating the surviving criminal's escape. His other option was to run away and allow _both_ of them to escape, which was out of the question from the onset. Lastly, he could keep dodging and hope that they didn't figure out that he was holding out for backup. Even that didn't seem like a good idea, but it was the best of the three evils, so he poised himself to avoid whatever might come at him next.

In the next moment, they were joined by a fourth person, and Shou looked at his little sister with equal parts relief and anger—she was _not_ supposed to have been allowed to fight these people, but he was glad to finally have a comrade, and if Ai was there, others would be soon. Ai came to stand beside him and looked at him expectantly.

"That one has the Sharingan," he briefed her. "Aside from that, I don't really know what he can do. She can kill things with a touch, so you might want to watch out for that." That out of the way, he asked, "How long until backup is supposed to arrive?"

"Oh, they're not coming," Ai said, and Shou blanched.

"What?!" he demanded, not taking his eyes off of either adversary.

Ai grinned, "They weren't needed. After all, it's three to one."

"Three to o—_hrk_?!" Shou sputtered as Ai hit the back of his neck, and he instantly felt his body go numb. He slunk down, but his crouched position kept him from falling off the limb. "Why…?" he managed to choke out.

"I'm sick of taking orders from you, _Taichou_," Ai spat. "And I'm sick of being treated like the next Orochimaru by the villagers. If they're going to treat me like the villain, then I'm going to give them a reason to." Ai propped a foot on her brother's back, teetering him toward the edge of the branch. "And now, Niisan, die—that is _not_ a request," she mocked cruelly before giving him the final push needed for his limp body to fall to the ground below.

Shou could feel himself blacking out, and knew that if he had sensation in the rest of his body, he'd be in the most pain of his life right then. In the trees above him, Shou watched Ai leave with the two Kurohi members before unconsciousness finally took him.

* * *

**A/N:** Given the current events in the manga, I'd just like to clear some things up:  
Being a fanficiton, this is (obviously) not canon. Its history follows canon up to the beginning of the Shinobi War arc, but it's based on my predicted outcome of the war, and as such, certain characters are still alive, and certain other characters are dead, regardless of their status in the manga.


End file.
